Infinite Stratos: DIVERGENCE
by dardanellia
Summary: 10-year-old Ichika attempts to find out who was behind his kidnapping. However, his quest leads him to a bloody and tremulous path, which Ichika never thought he would choose.
1. Chapter 1

**(Ichika's home)**

Like all the days before in his life until this point, Ichika's day began peacefully. Ichika woke up early in the morning as his older sister, Chifuyu, had taught him since he was a young child. As he entered the living room and went towards the kitchen, the home was empty. For a 10-year-old child, it was unusual to wake up at home where there were no other people around, namely no parents around. However, this was rather ordinary for Ichika, since his older sister Chifuyu was usually away from home. She was a IS user, you see, the best in the world, in fact. Ever since the invention and the revelation of _Infinite Stratos_, Chifuyu had been away from home. She was usually away training to become the very best of hundreds of IS users.

There was a catch for using the Infinite Stratos: the user had to be a female and also compatible with it but only women had the potential to be compatible with the IS in the first place. This had, of course, led to a societal change across the globe. Women, with the help of IS, seized control of the political and economic life. This had previously been controlled by men since the civilization began 10 000 years ago when agriculture was born. Men were no longer in power, in fact, they had been pushed down by the women. Regardless of the societal change and the change in the normal lives of the citizens that lived in this new world, Ichika's mind dwelled on his sister's absence. It had been rather distant with his sister ever since the IS was revealed 5 years ago if the recalled correctly. Chifuyu had trained relentlessly all these years, and it had paid off. There was so-called _Mondo Grosso_ where the IS users representing their own countries competed with each other. Winning the finals was a great honor and Chifuyu had managed to win the previous Mondo Grosso, which was actually the very first Mondo Grosso Tournament ever held. She was representing Japan at the time and Chifuyu had brought great honor to Japan and herself. However, she wasn't that interested in glorious prizes as many would think. Chifuyu only cared about her little brother Ichika ever since she and Ichika had been abandoned since they were children. This year and during this day, the second Mondo Grosso Tournament would be held. Ichika had been looking forward to this. Yes, he wasn't actually watching his sister compete live because it would be much more comfortable to just watch it in his home. He was there live the first time the Mondo Grosso was held. Ichika didn't enjoy his stay there although he managed to see his sister compete live. But in Ichika's opinion, it wasn't worth it to be there. Ichika planned to just sit, relax and watch his sister win the tournament once more. Ichika was more than confident that his sister would win again. So far, Chifuyu had beaten her opponents swiftly and flawlessly, well some opponents were more than ''easy''. Especially, the previous match had been much more difficult than the others but that was to be expected since it was the semifinals. Most considered Chifuyu Orimura to be unbeatable and so did Ichika. However, this would soon change.

It was a great surprise for Ichika to hear someone ring the doorbell. He had told his friend Dan not to visit him today since he wanted to watch his sister at Mondo Grosso. Ichika thought Dan was watching it too, as well. But who else might it be behind the door, then? It wouldn't be his other friend Lingyin Huang (called Rin for short) since she was actually there to watch it live since she liked IS so much.

''Probably some advertiser because it's the best time to advertise something because most people are currently in their homes.'' Ichika frowned and then sighed because he had to rise up from the sofa where he had sat for hours comfortably alongside his delicious food. Ichika decided to raise the volume of the TV so he would still hear what was going on so he wouldn't miss anything while opening the door. Ichika saw no reason to look through a hole to see who was behind the door and instead opened the door.

A hit came near Ichika's head. He narrowly dodged it. There was a lot of power behind the punch, what Ichika could deduce. It was probably intended as a knock-out punch. Luckily for him, he knew how to dodge attacks.

''A-an attacker?!'' Ichika thought while frightened. Ichika had to continue retreating from the entrance as dodging attacks by the unknown person was difficult in such a tight space. As he was dodging and retreating, Ichika wondered what was the intruder here for. What little time he had to think, he suspected that the person might be here for stealing some valuables from the Orimura Residence. There definitely were many valuables because Chifuyu was a wealthy woman. And Ichika wanted to ensure that no one took anything from him and Chifuyu. Ichika stopped the retreat and instead, started to go on the offensive. Ichika was going to fight back – he just couldn't dodge all the time. Maybe he had to finish the fight by beating his opponent.

Ichika fought relentlessly against his opponent. Ichika managed to land very few hits. From the grunts of the attacker, Ichika could figure out that the attacker was, in fact, a _woman_. Her gender, however, didn't matter much, as she was a skilled fighter what Ichika could tell because she too managed to hit him multiple times but Ichika wouldn't fail just yet.

Ichika was moving around the house and the attacker followed him everywhere. Ichika decided to go towards the kitchen as there were some knives he could use against his opponent since he was unarmed at the moment. The woman had just revealed her knife. Now she meant that there was no more time to joke around.

Ichika sighed a bit in his mind as he managed to swiftly take a knife from a drawer at the kitchen and continue his assault against the female intruder. The next event made things much difficult, however.

The window near Ichika in the living room, where he was currently fighting, suddenly broke. Another intruder had entered his house. Come to think of it, the intruder could've had just used the door at the entrance since it was still open but this move definitely caught him off-guard. Now, Ichika had to fight two opponents. He could figure out that the other opponent was probably as skilled as the first intruder. This didn't bode well for Ichika. He was still a 10-year-old boy. It wasn't like he was old enough to fight, anyway. To his credit, Ichika managed to hold out well against two skilled opponents. The fact that this fight lasted so long might've just proved that maybe they weren't as great fighters than he'd thought. But Ichika could soon feel the feeling of dread around his body as he soon knew that he might not survive this encounter. One of the opponents managed to find an opening in his attack and managed to knock him out. He fell to the floor with some minor injuries around his body. The people proceeded to take him away from his home without even taking any valuables or anything at all with them. It seemed that Ichika himself was the _target_.

* * *

**(Unknown location)**

Before Ichika managed to even open his eyes, he felt something cold around his wrists. He also felt uncomfortable around his legs as it felt like they were tied to something and moving them was impossible. It was now apparent that he was tied to a chair and his hands were in chains. Ichika felt quite tired as well, perhaps he just needed a little nap as other children do but now it was impossible because this was a rather uncomfortable place to sleep at. He could see his wounds that had stopped bleeding but blood was still around his body. Minor blood loss might also be the reason for his tiredness. It didn't take long to dawn in Ichika's mind that he had, in fact, been kidnapped by some unknown people. Well, at least, he had not died yet. Uncharacteristically, Ichika didn't react by screaming and shouting nonsense and crying like a child despite the fact that he was a 10-year-old boy. He showed calmness that Chifuyu had taught him because panicking was never an answer for anything. His onee-san always had a rather calm but at the same time a dangerous aura that Ichika wanted to replicate as well. He didn't feel the so-called danger around her as other people had told him. Perhaps, he was immune to it as her little brother? The room around Ichika was dark but he could see the entrance right before him. Reaching it was obviously impossible since he was tied to a chair but escaping this place was the only thing that he had in mind.

''Hopefully, Chifuyu wins the tournament.'' Ichika thought so he would feel somewhat hopeful and ignore this horrible situation he had suddenly found himself in. There was only silence around him. Only some air conditioner far from Ichika on the other side of the room was making a sound. Ichika didn't pay attention to it because the only sound he heard was his own thoughts.

''What was the purpose of this kidnapping?'' Ichika thought as fear was spreading across his body.

''Are they using me for some sort of experiments or for some other reason. Torture, perhaps?'' Ichika pondered reasons for his kidnapping. What he could reason, there usually were only a few reasons why someone would be kidnapped.

''Usually, they kidnap someone to blackmail someone in order to agree to their demands.'' Soon realization dawned on Ichika as he thought of that reason.

''Are they using me as a hostage in order to do something to Chifuyu?'' Ichika panicked a little as he thought of this. Ichika had always thought that he was a great burden to his sister. After all, she always had to look after her little brother and to do many sacrifices for his sake. But Ichika really wished that this situation wouldn't affect Chifuyu's situation at Mondo Grosso Tournament in any way.

For hours Ichika had sat in the chair. Ichika had no idea how long he been here. He hadn't eaten or drunk anything in ages and they'd taken their toll on Ichika.

''I'll be damned if Chifuyu tries to save me now when she has other things to attend to.'' Thought of dying or getting hurt didn't seem to scare Ichika at all. For all he had, was his older sister, like she only had him. He didn't have anything to lose. So far, he hadn't achieved anything anyway or acquired anything of value in his short life. Dying didn't seem that bad of an idea. As long as his sister was fine and would soon win the tournament, Ichika had nothing to worry about. His own death didn't worry him _at all_. While he fought against the two opponents, Ichika expected that he might die but it did not scare him then. Possibility of dying seemed, however, very unlikely since getting someone here in this room to starve to death wasn't probably the main reason Ichika was brought here. After he had spent hours on the uncomfortable chair with his hands chained, Ichika concluded that he was brought here as a bait in order to lure his sister Chifuyu to come to rescue him.

''There's a reason they brought me here, isn't there? I am the bait in order to get her to abandon the finals.'' Ichika had finally understood the true meaning of his kidnapping.

''But if she had already won, wouldn't they kill me soon, then?'' Ichika's face darkened. Death was probably soon on its way. Chifuyu had probably won the 2nd Mondo Grosso and brought glory to herself and her homeland. But the price of it would be her own brother's life. Reflecting on these thoughts, the tension was filling his body.

''I..I'll die soon... damn it!''

Ichika tried to make a brave face and brace whatever was going to get him.

Soon Ichika heard sounds of a commotion. Shooting could just be heard outside the room he was in. Several guns were firing. They were assault rifles or other automatic weapons what Ichika could understand. Automatic gunfire was the giveaway. Because there were multiple people, probably at least a dozen, firing their weapons, Ichika could deduce something from this.

''There must be someone, no, an organization behind my kidnapping, that's for sure.'' Ichika's suspicions about who might be behind his kidnapping arose right now. Most likely the people who did the dirty job weren't actually the people actually the one who _orchestrated_ it. Ichika wondered who they might be firing at. Was his rescue party finally here? Or just some infighting within the organization or did another organization just pick a fight with the organization that was behind his kidnapping? He would soon find out.

It didn't take long until the gunfire ceased. Screams of men had been heard moment before the gunfire stopped. Ichika wasn't sure what was about to happen. Who fought who and who won wasn't exactly clear to Ichika since he was just imprisoned in a dark room.

''He must be in here!'' Ichika heard someone say this. It was a female's voice. A familiar voice, in fact.

''No, it can't be her.'' Ichika thought nervously. It was apparent who was here. The door in front of him exploded or rather was broken with a strike, probably from a sword what Ichika could see as his sight was blinded from the light that emitted from the outside. It had to be Chifuyu's famous sword that she used with her IS. Ichika saw his onee-san Chifuyu step inside the room with a worried expression on her face, to put it mildly. There were also countless men behind her. Ichika didn't know why there were here in the first place. Her minions or something to help her to find him?

''W-Why, why are you here, Chi-Chifuyu...nee?'' Ichika said with a surprised and tired tone.

Ichika then passed out from exhaustion and hunger. His body just couldn't take it any longer.

* * *

**(Several hours later)**

Ichika Orimura was furious. For a ten-year-old boy, Ichika's face looked rather fearsome when he was angry. Perhaps, his glare might match his older sister's, Chifuyu's, infamous intimidating glare when he was finally older. It had only been a few hours since Ichika's kidnapping. Ichika wasn't particularly traumatized by the incident – at least that's what he had told himself all this time ever since he woke up on his hospital bed. The people who had kidnapped him did not torture him, which was certainly a good thing, after all, his worst fears did not transpire. Ichika was only put on chains in a dark room where he waited for things to serious – which never happened. Ichika only really suffered from slight hunger and thirst and sleep deprivation because he spent almost a day there in an uncomfortable position on a chair. (Those wouldn't be an issue for an adult, but he's 10 years old for God's sake.)

But one thing infuriated Ichika immensely. Because of his failure, Chifuyu had lost her 2nd Mondo Grosso Championship. Ichika had only one task, stay at home and enjoy his time watching TV and to see her sister winning the 2nd Mondo Grosso. But no, Ichika had apparently gotten himself kidnapped by some shadowy organization or whatever, and it caused her sister to abandon the finals and to lose the finals. Chifuyu was so close to victory. Ichika was sure that her final opponent would not have been a match for her. After all, Chifuyu Orimura was the fabled Brunhilde. She was no doubt the best IS user to date. What Ichika knew even the opponent was a finalist or a semifinalist from the previous Mondo Grosso (if he recalled correctly), the opponent wouldn't have most likely beaten Chifuyu this time. All of her victories had been flawless and she had defeated her opponents swiftly with her IS. Chifuyu fled (a very demeaning word to use in this context) from the arena once she heard about Ichika's kidnapping. For her, Ichika was only family member left in this world and source of her strength (Of course, Ichika doesn't see it that way), she couldn't let any harm come to Ichika's way. For all the onlookers it looked amazing since she moved her IS with impressive speed and at the same time very disappointing when they saw Chifuyu leave the match. It was thought that the arena's barrier was impregnable by IS but Chifuyu managed to break through it effortlessly. After she broke through the barrier of the arena, she forfeited the match, and her opponent - Alicia Josestof, the Representative Candidate of Italy, was declared a winner.

It was obvious that nothing too serious had happened to Ichika considering that he only had minor wounds around his body like bruises and some cuts as the kidnappers couldn't cut deep with their knives. His wounds only needed some disinfection and bandages. Ichika knew that his protective sister had put him here just in case. Probably, doctors would have disagreed with her choice to put a boy who was not in serious danger to a hospital. However, she had ways to convince other people. Clearly, the doctors had agreed to his sister's orders. Ichika looked at the TV that was in the same hospital room as him. It was located near the roof at the end of the room but it was still a good distance away so he could see what was shown on TV. Ichika took remote that was on a small desk just next to his hospital bed, near where Ichika laid his head on the pillow. Ichika scrolled through the channels until one caught his eye. Ichika had been furious ever since he had woken up and heard the news about her sister's defeat – because of HIM – and his fury would rise to even higher after he was reminded of his failure. Ichika looked at the broadcast on the TV.

''_The 1st Mondo Grosso Champion, the Brunhilde, Chifuyu Orimura just lost the 2nd Mondo Grosso Tournament. It was a surprise for all the spectators, for she did not even fight, but fled the scene. It was a shock to the media! Rumors say that many gamblers lost hundreds of millions of yen because of her sudden absence from the final match. Regardless, now we interview-''_

Ichika couldn't take it any longer and threw the remote with all his might towards the TV. The screen broke, as to be expected, but the TV also fell down from the wall. The power of the throw was so powerful that it just crashed on the floor. Because of the noise, a nurse hurriedly walked into the room. She, however, soon turned back as she could feel a dangerous tread around her body as she looked at Ichika. He was fuming with anger. Ichika was gritting his teeth so hard that they might just break if he gritted any harder than that. Killing intent could be seen in his eyes. Ichika's eyes pierced the nurse as she could soon feel that she might just faint there and there. The nurse had never seen such fury in a person before. Ichika didn't look like a boy at that moment. He looked like a monster.

* * *

**(A Few days later)**

The incident haunted Ichika all the time, especially during the nights and he had trouble to sleep. The reason was not that the kidnapping incident was a particularly scary experience for him. Of course, sometimes Ichika would feel bit paranoid but he reasoned that he wouldn't be any use for any shadowy organization since he had nothing to offer them, although Ichika could be used as a bait against his sister. It seemed that he was the source of her strength - and weakness. After time went on, Ichika wanted vengeance against those who had kidnapped him. He wanted to go after those who made his sister forfeit the match. Chifuyu wasn't there to help him to solve this case. She had busied herself by going to Germany to train a certain girl for a full year. It seemed that Ichika wasn't going to see his sister for a long time. Germany had found about Ichika's kidnapping and in exchange for intel, Chifuyu promised to train a girl for Germany. And Germany desperately needed a good IS pilot. For great power, they had not yet gotten a very good pilot, which was embarrassing. Germany's great power status might disappear if nothing was done. Chifuyu hadn't bothered to get a nanny or someone to look over Ichika, which certainly was quite neglective on her part since she usually took great care of Ichika and wouldn't leave Ichika to his own devices because he was only a young boy. Perhaps, she thought that this was a formative experience for Ichika – to leave him to take care of himself and not to rely all the time on his sister.

The days spent alone didn't bother Ichika. Before that incident, Chifuyu had constantly been away from home. After all, she was the world's most famous IS user and she was busy all the time. Sure, Chifuyu tried her best to keep attention to her little brother but it was still rather difficult for a young woman like her to take care of herself and Ichika ever since their parents abandoned them when they were children. But the thing that kept pressing Ichika's mind was the kidnapping incident. He was still furious about his failure. How he failed his sister. After some consideration (as a 10-year-old boy he spent probably a single moment thinking about it) Ichika decided to act and find about those who might've kidnapped him. Perhaps then he might be more useful to his sister. Certainly, having Chifuyu here to help him would be most helpful but Ichika thought that it would be more maturing for him to solve this case himself.

Ichika put his brain to work. First, he started by thinking about the purpose of the kidnapping. ''It was done in order to lure Chifuyu away from her final match. There was no other reason. Right?'' Ichika spun this fact around in his head. ''Perhaps they would have transferred me to some other place where I would be lost and then die?'' Ichika continued in his head. Ichika proceeded to abandon these thoughts from his head. For, if that was the case, they would have tortured him also, which didn't happen. Had it been for research purposes, the people behind his kidnapping would've already put him in a lab than to a cell. Finally, Ichika came to the conclusion that there was no other reason than to make her sister lose the final match, which made him angry. Ichika pondered about the fact that who might've benefited the most from Chifuyu's defeat.

''There were dozens of contenders in Mondo Grosso, how on Earth can I figure that out?'' Ichika thought. He was sure that all the nation's from the previous Mondo Grosso were quite sore from their defeats at the hands of Chifuyu. Some of them must have conspired in order the get her to lose the finals. It would certainly be very embarrassing for the rest of the world to be defeated by Japan for the 2nd time. For Ichika it was obvious that not all nations wouldn't have resorted to such means – to kidnap a child in order to defeat an opponent – but some nations certainly are ruthless. Ichika knew little about politics. To be fair, much had changed ever since Tabane Shinonono revealed her invention, Infinite Stratos, to the world. The old elite – mostly elderly men – had been replaced by the elite of women (at least to some extent). It was hard to keep up with the everchanging world. By doing some research Ichika concluded that one of the superpowers or the great powers might have been behind his kidnapping. The Internet told him that usually great powers were more ruthless in their means to achieve their goals so it might be the case regarding his kidnapping as well. Ichika's trail of thought suddenly halted.

''But what if it was just a one person who wanted to personally benefit from my sister's defeat?'' Ichika thought and he swiftly abandoned his research about the great power's plot to kidnap him. Ichika concluded that it was more likely that a person would resort to such a desperate mean to gain victory for the sake of personal glory. After all, Mondo Grosso Championship was more beneficial for the winner than for the country that the winner represented. He started to think about Chifuyu's opponents. Ichika thought that it was very unlikely that the opponents who had already lost to Chifuyu during the 2nd Mondo Grosso were behind his kidnapping. Sure, the already defeated contenders might be pleased to see her lose the Mondo Grosso but there was no reason that they would kidnap Ichika in order to make that happen.

''How would they benefit personally from her defeat if they were already defeated by his sister or by the other contenders?'' Ichika tried to rationalize this in his head. Ichika spent quite a while who might have plotted against him and his sister. Then a realization hit his head.

''It must have been the other finalist!'' Ichika thought with joy and anger.

Here was his logic:

The other contenders did not resort to kidnapping him during the 2nd Mondo Grosso because they were still unsure about their victory until the finals would be reached. It would be pretty useless to resort to such a cruel mean long before the finals if they were defeated anyway by some other contender in the future. But once the finals were reached - the other finalist would clearly be desperate that her final opponent was no other than Chifuyu, the Brunhilde. This would then make them desperate enough to resort kidnapping Ichika since the finalist would assume that Chifuyu was too attached to her only loved one. In Ichika's mind, this logic held true since he was somewhat known by the world as Chifuyu's little brother - or at least it wouldn't be very difficult to find about him. So in essence, the other finalist found about Chifuyu's only weakness that she held (which many didn't think was possible) and decided to use it against her. After making such a complicated rationalization (for a 10-year old boy it certainly was), Ichika was determined to find more about the person who was behind his kidnapping.

* * *

In the current age, the science had made leaps in the technology, so it was not a surprise that Ichika found about the opponent of his sister easily. The Internet sure was a marvel of technology, Ichika thought to himself. Of course, the winner of 2nd Mondo Grosso had been on the news the while back but he hadn't paid attention to those then. Clearly, he should have after coming to a certain conclusion about her a while back. Ichika found out who was this finalist. Her name was Alicia Josestof, the Representative Candidate of Italy. She was no doubt a beautiful woman, Ichika thought as he saw photos of her. Ichika felt an odd feeling in his body when looking at the photos of Alicia Josestof. She was a redhead and had green eyes. Her skin was also quite pale. Clearly, she looked like a physical manifestation of her country of origin's flag - the colors of the flag of Italy. Since he was a male, Ichika also looked at her other features.

''Hmm… Alicia's body is quite similar to Chifuyu's. Perhaps they are the same age? She might be older than nee-san. Her breasts are also quite big- wait, what am I thinking?'' Ichika blushed heavily as his thoughts were getting too indecent for his likes.

''She has a very kind smile on her face.'' Ichika thought as he was scrolling through photos of Alicia. Quickly he remembered how Chifuyu had once reminded him about people who can deceive other people with their looks. Chifuyu was the best example of someone who was more than she looked. Chifuyu might look gorgeous but she never smiled in public and she had a rather dangerous and vile aura which could be sensed by the people around her. Ichika knew that he was often perhaps too trusting of other people. Then again he was a young child – they were supposed to be innocent and too trusting of others, even strangers. Ever since the kidnapping incident, he hasn't been as trustful as he was before. Ichika also knew that people had to pretend to look like something else when portraying themselves in public. Ichika considered that to be a sad thing since he always wanted people to be as honest as possible – the naïvety of the youth. After watching too many photos of her Ichika started to feel like some sort of pervert of whom Chifuyu always warned about. She said something the lines of ''Ichika, don't be a perv!'' Ichika doesn't recall the details correctly but apparently being _too_ interested in opposite sex's body was not proper for a man of his age. The actual definition of the word 'pervert' is still quite unclear for a young boy like Ichika. The future had a lot to show him.

Ichika proceeded to watch some video material of Alicia Josestof. He thought that perhaps the interviews immediately after the match might reveal something about her. Maybe she would act weirdly because she knew in her head what she had done in order to achieve victory over her opponent. There was one video made almost immediately after she had 'defeated' Chifuyu. A reporter interviewed Alicia Josestof on rather trivial things so Ichika paid no attention to things that were said but rather to the fact how Alicia acted on the video. Ichika saw nothing to pay attention to. She clearly didn't feel any guilt or had any things swirling in her head regarding that incident. Or perhaps she was very good at deceiving people and keeping up the so-called façade. Ichika continued watching other videos of Alicia. He watched a video of her before the final match started. There was nothing out of ordinary there either.

''How disappointing'' Ichika thought.

''Regardless of these videos, she must be the perpetrator and she was going to pay for what she had done.'' Ichika thought and his anger rose slowly as well.

* * *

Ichika had come to the conclusion long ago that he now had to confront the woman who was behind his kidnapping. Soon Ichika lost hope once he realized that he had to confront an IS user. How on Earth was he going to defeat an opponent that could destroy entire conventional armies from the face of Earth? Clearly, Ichika had to formulate some strategy in order to defeat his opponent.

It had been a long time when he had held a _shinai_ on his hand. It hadn't been too long since Ichika trained kendo with his childhood friend, Houki Shinonono - the younger sister of the inventor of IS, Tabene Shinonono. She was a fierce opponent in the dojo that was owned by Shinonono family. However, Ichika had trained intensely throughout his youth and managed to reach Houki's level rather quickly. Eventually, Ichika even managed to constantly best Houki in almost every duel, much to her dismay. Being slightly trained by the devil Chifuyu Orimura certainly paid off. Chifuyu had given some melee lessons to Ichika in order to quench his rather bloodthirsty nature. A very ironic way to suppress such dangerous feelings but it had actually worked very well. Chifuyu remarked quite philosophically about the weight of the blade by comparing it to the weight of human life. That remained to be seen by Ichika. His training, however, came to an abrupt end almost a year ago. The Shinonono Family, excluding Tabane, was put on the protection. And just like that, they disappeared from Ichika's life. This was due to them being close relatives of the inventor of Infinite Stratos. Not sure why they didn't do that when the invention was revealed. The most devastating part wasn't the fact that her pseudo-girlfriend Houki had disappeared from his life - he held no romantic feelings towards her, though she acted rather oddly at times when she was near Ichika – but Ichika was devastated about the end of the training. He and Chifuyu moved away from Hokkaido to near Tokyo. Ever since the training had ended, Ichika had been out of shape – not in the way we call it – rather he wasn't in his past prime. Ichika began to ponder if it was his rusty abilities that made him so easy to be kidnapped by someone. Then again he was caught off-guard. Understanding that the current situation required dire means to achieve the impossible feat to defeat an IS user, Ichika decided to continue his kendo training and perhaps try to practice using a real sword and to learn other martial arts. He hoped that his Orimura blood would guarantee him victory. Ichika knew that his sister Chifuyu was a powerful person in her youth. Perhaps he had the same potential to reach the heights she had reached. But sadly, the IS was only for women. Ichika had no way to reach such an ability to wreak havoc as her sister could. However, he didn't lose his determination. Perhaps with the help of his training, he could beat Alicia Josestof if he managed to encounter her without having an IS on her. He knew that deploying an IS without permission – even for a Representative Candidate – was strictly illegal. The repercussions for breaking the law were not worth it.

''Yes!'' Ichika deviously thought to him. He only had to catch her off-guard. After all, who suspected that a little boy like him could be dangerous? Some considered men to be no longer dangerous to women ever since the invention of IS. Clearly, those people didn't realize that not all women wear IS suits at all times.

After formulating ideas on how to defeat his opponent, Ichika started thinking about how he could even reach Alicia Josestof. If her home country was Italy and she lived there as well, there was no way Ichika could ever reach her.

''Well, I suppose I could just buy an airplane ticket, right?'' Ichika thought. Then a thought went across his mind. How can a child like him even go to an airplane without anyone noticing that he had no parents with him or someone else supervising him? Then people would become suspicious of him – or might just catch him immediately send him back home after noticing that he was a child traveling alone. Then another arose as well. A trip to Italy, probably to Rome, since that was where all the big shots lived, would cost a lot. For some reason, ticket prices are still quite expensive. Japan was also much farther than, let's say, another European country. A one-way ticket would probably cost tens of thousands of yen. And a ticket back would also cost an equal amount of money. Ichika would also have to find a place to stay like a hotel. Sure, there were dirt cheap hotels even in Rome but they are located in unfavorable faraway places, which was inconvenient for traveling across the city.

''Besides, will the receptionist even take me in because I am underage?''

It was uncommon to see a child renting a room or something. Ichika also pondered if he was in legal age to even make such huge transactions to pay for his expenses. What he had heard, some countries considered huge payments (like over $500) null and void if they were made by a minor. Though, in most cases, the transaction would be nullified if the parent intervened and demanded nullification. He wasn't sure how it was like here in Japan. The greatest problem was still ahead. Where could he even get such sums of money? At first, people would think that he should just ask his older sister for money. Sure, she had money to spare but of course, she would immediately ask where he would use the money for, etc. because Chifuyu didn't want Ichika to get used to some extravagant lifestyle and become a lazy person. And Ichika didn't want to be more of a burden than he already was. And Ichika definitely didn't want to state the true reason to her for why he wanted money – to hunt down her Mondo Grosso opponent. It seemed that getting money from Chifuyu was out of the question. There remained only one way to get money – to get employed. But who would even employ a 10-year old boy – was it even legal in this country? This wasn't some third world country like some Asian mainland neighbors of Japan - but there was a shortage of some young workforce here in Japan. Ever since feminism had reached its maximum heights since the invention of IS, the birth rates had dropped to even lower numbers than already were – abysmally low. The future workforce would be too small to sustain a country like Japan with a rapidly growing old population. Apparently, this phenomenon was widespread in other developed countries. Ichika decided that he should get a part-time job – it probably won't have a good salary (because it's part-time) but at least he could also focus on his studies. One good thing about being a young middle-schooler was the low difficulty of studies. They didn't teach very difficult subjects to kids as old Ichika was, so he didn't have to actually put much effort into his studies during his free time. Ichika could easily learn just attending the lessons and doing the homework, which was effortless for him. This made it possible for him to take a part-time job without it actually having any effect on his studies. Reflecting on his current and future situation, Ichika seemed to be pleased with himself. He would get a job even if he was too young. Exploiting the young workforce wasn't anything new here in Japan.

* * *

**(A Few weeks later)**

After his school day had ended, Ichika had declined the requests of his friends – including his female friend Rin, who seemed to be infatuated with him – to hang out with them after school. He had rather unusual plans for a boy of his age. To seek a job.

''Playing video games is dull anyways'' Ichika tried to think about that sentence over and over again in his head so he wouldn't be too sad that he couldn't play video games with his best friend Dan Gotanda tonight. Achieving the goals he had set was much more important. Ichika forgot one detail when he was planning his schedule – meaning how he was supposed to balance school, work and hanging out with friends. He also had to train his combat abilities. After all, even after gathering the money he needed, confronting his enemy without any skill was suicidal and useless. Ichika didn't want to spend an extra year or even more just training after he had gathered the money. Chifuyu would possibly arrive back. She must not know about his plans. Hopefully, something might delay her return. Maybe Ichika could convince her by saying something like 'you can give your protege some extra training' or something like that in order to prolong her stay in Germany. Ichika's only option remained. He had to completely cut off his friends from the schedule.

''I can hang out with them in the future'' Ichika thought simultaneously thinking about the fact that his friends might abandon him if he ignored them for too long during that period. Now Ichika had to formulate some training regimen in order to increase his fighting skills and his physical prowess. Naturally, kendo was going to be part of the training. He was natural with the shinai and the sword like Chifuyu. In fact, she fights with a sword when using IS. So, swords weren't obsolete yet.

For days Ichika had spent his time looking for a job. It was now apparent to him how difficult it really was to find a job. Some jobs descriptions that clearly told that he was unfit to do such work such as a construction worker, which was probably illegal for him to even do, even if he had quite the physical strength for his age but he wasn't an adult yet. It must be noted that he hadn't even received any job interviews either. Now Ichika really understood why the media constantly talked about the high youth unemployment or about the high levels of unemployment in general. For many people, it was simply impossible to get a job - especially job that they would actually like. Ichika pondered and realized quickly that putting his real age on the CV wasn't probably the best choice of action. Ichika had learned by researching on the internet that sometimes people would leave out their age so that the employers wouldn't do age discrimination - this was clearly for older people rather for young people like Ichika. This certainly didn't work as he expected. Ichika had managed to get an interview. He was even certain that he would get a job now. Usually getting an interview was a promising sign. Much to his disappointment, the employer immediately started laughing and thinking this interview was just a joke. This was clearly a rejection. Ichika tried to even convince the employer with his Orimura glare with no avail.

While incredibly embarrassing experience for Ichika, the rejection did not deter Ichika. He had to find a job at all costs or his mission would be doomed. At this point, Ichika started to think that he might finally have to get a job at a retirement home. He had tried to avoid going there as much as he could but now it seemed that there were no other options.

''Goddamn it'' Ichika shouted angrily. He rarely cussed – a trait instilled by Chifuyu. Ichika started to think about the humiliation he might be put to endure in the future. At the retirement homes, it was common that even children were employed in order to keep some company to the elderly people. Ichika knew that he had to pretend to be some cute little boy. Yes, Ichika knew that he's a young child but he had to behave like he was some 5-year-old boy. Usually, the ways children tried to keep the old people entertained was to organize some games between old people. Usually, they did not work very well because, well, the old people were playing them. Sometimes, multiple children formed some groups in order to entertain old people. Ichika had heard about this from Rin, who had done something like this a few times (for fun apparently with her friends). Ichika clearly wasn't an energetic person like Rin. It's not like he would invite Dan to keep company. Even Dan wouldn't do things as ridiculous as that for money. Luckily for Dan, he was employed by their own restaurant. It was nothing impressive. Ichika had, in fact, asked about being employed there but there were enough employees. Dan's little sister Ran was certainly disappointed that Ichika couldn't be employed by Gatanda Family. Because he was still unemployed (not usually a bad thing for a person of his age, of course, but his situation was different), Ichika had more time to invest in training. Ichika had a lot of time to train after school since the days weren't particularly long, so until he managed to get a job, Ichika had to spend time honing his fighting skills and trying to live by a strict training regimen invented by his strict Chifuyu-nee.

It was certainly very convenient that there were many retirement homes nearby. After all, there were so many retired people in Japan that there was a serious shortage of retirement homes. They were almost around every corner.

''Too bad they can't live in their own homes but then again it employs me, so why should I complain?'' Ichika thought about the job he was soon about to get and the annoying thoughts started to creep into his head. Some final whispers of reason tried to prevent him from getting this job. The job would be no fun for Ichika that much was clear. Would the pay even be good, since there were so many retirement homes and many employees, the salary must be quite low as well? As Ichika was stepping into the retirement home's building, he hesitated. Ichika started to look around for places that might offer employment as a last ditch effort to avoid going to this dreaded place.

''Wait'' Ichika suddenly noticed as he glanced across the street. He actually hadn't gotten properly familiarized with this neighborhood so the place across the street immediately caught his attention. A massage parlor. That provoked Ichika's interest. Doing a massage wasn't an unfamiliar thing for Ichika. A year ago he started doing massages for his sister. What he knew, he was eerily good at it. At least, that was what Ichika knew from the moans and screams of his sister when he put his magic hands to work and had his hand all of Chifuyu's body. Who would've known that a 10-year-old would be that good at massage? Ichika was so good, in fact, he would probably become a highly professional masseur if he kept doing it. However, it was certainly understandable that Ichika would do something like for his own sister whom he had known for his whole life. Now, he had to do a massage to a complete stranger. It's quite likely that his onee-san wouldn't approve him touching other women the way he had touched her. (That came out wrong.) At this point, disapproval from his sister didn't matter to Ichika anymore because he wanted a damn job at all costs that didn't require taking care of the old people. Immediately, Ichika decided to walk across the road which was full of cars with people eager to go to their own workplaces. Jaywalking was frowned upon here in Japan but Ichika didn't care, hell it might even illegal in some places, because now he had to go to the place that might offer him at least some remaining shreds of hope. Ichika swiftly crossed the street, dodging cars with ease because of the training he had.

Like all the massage parlors, the entrance looked, to put it mildly, very inviting, indeed. The entrance stood out from the rest of the building that was why Ichika recognized it so well. The parlor had an impressive facade. The place looked perhaps too good considering the neighborhood it was located at. Ichika assumed that it might have been here because many people didn't live here or this was a rather quiet place if the occasional traffic was ignored. Considering the luxurious appearance of the massage parlor, Ichika started to think that it would be very unlikely that he would be employed by the parlor. He was quite sure that the massage parlor already had enough professional masseurs, so why would Ichika be even needed? While having these thoughts in his head, Ichika stepped into the parlor. The interior wasn't like Ichika had expected. The facade had literally been just a facade. It was nowhere near luxurious as he had expected. Still, the place was very inviting for a customer and Ichika was certain that no common folk probably attended this place. It's not like many people took a massage anyway. Usually, a place like this might invite other kinds of people like some perverts Chifuyu had told Ichika about. Maybe she said that so Ichika wouldn't ever consider becoming a masseur. His onee-san was too much of a bro-con to ever let her little brother touch other women – aside his future wife, whoever that would be. Then again, Ichika was quite a sis-con since he was literally hunting his onee-san's former opponent.

There were really not many job opportunities for men in the new age. Sure, Ichika had many capabilities, such as physical prowess (especially for his age) and very high intelligence (that explains his unrivaled success in school), but would women just ruin his future career opportunities? Maybe Ichika's onee-san might be able to help but he didn't want to rely on her all the time. Ever since the rise of the IS, women had managed to force their way to get better job opportunities, especially in higher-paying jobs, which was certainly discouraging for men. Though men had traditionally been very dominant in the private sector of the economy, such as, as leaders of many companies or just as a normal salary worker, now their numbers have been dwindling by the years. Clearly, this might result in an economic disaster if this kept going on because entrepreneurship, which was crucial for a growing economy, had drastically reduced among the male population. There weren't enough incentives to become an entrepreneur or work at all, in general. One good thing about becoming a masseur was that it was not replaceable by robots. Women still wanted actual men (and/or women) to touch their bodies (yes, even in that way), so robots weren't a threat to Ichika in this industry. Also, being a masseur paid well. However, getting a very good salary from this kind of job required men to do _something_ _more_ for the women, which Ichika was clearly not aware of. Indeed, this kind of industry did have another kind of industry under it - _prostitution_. Sure, Ichika was a pretty boy and he would certainly look very handsome once he was an adult (the girls, such as Rin, were ogling him at school) but hopefully Ichika didn't have to be so desperate in the future to choose such a career. It would certainly be _very_ pathetic if he was compared to his sister's illustrious career. While having many thoughts in his head, Ichika continued walking towards the reception and waited for one of the employees or better, the employer, to come to talk with him. Ichika had to wait a while. The receptionist sure took her time before she finally arrived at the reception.

* * *

''A-a boy in here? What does he want?'' The female receptionist wondered.

''Is he even a customer? A boy needing a massage was something I've never heard about.'' The receptionist continued wondering about the odd situation she had just found herself. She saw a boy in front of him at the reception. He seemed to be very nervous. Perhaps, he was asking for a massage for someone else's behalf? Maybe he was doing the reservation because the other person didn't bother to come here herself?

''W-why are y-you here? And WHO are you?'' The receptionist finally asked. Awkwardness could be heard in her voice.

Ichika, at first, looked at her nervously, even glancing left and right which looked weird from receptionist's perspective because of the small level of anxiety he could feel. Ichika soon brushed away these feelings and regained his confidence to finally answer the receptionist's questions and to ask questions. With determination in his eyes and confidence in his voice.

''I'm Orimura Ichika. And I'm here looking for a job.'' The receptionist's eyes soon widened because of his words.

''Yes, you heard me right. I'm looking for a job.'' Ichika continued even with more confidence and determination remaining in his eyes.

He stared at the receptionist waiting for a response, his gaze piercing through her. _Time to put his Orimura abilities to use_.

The receptionist for some apparent reason just blushed. This made Ichika feel weird since he hadn't seen woman react like that to _him_.

''A handsome boy looking at me… like that?'' The receptionist thought. Apparently, Ichika didn't know that his _gaze_ could be interpreted in _other_ ways.

''How old even is he? He looks like 13-14 years old.'' She wondered with a small blush on her face because of Ichika's gaze.

Yes, Ichika looked quite old for his age. One explanation was maybe his genes – even Ichika vaguely remembers Chifuyu looking like a young woman in her middle school years, so he might have gotten the same genes – but another reason was his physical training. He looked very toned, which made him look much older than his peers. Perhaps, that could help him get employed but usually, even 13-14-year-old children weren't employed. The receptionist finally continued speaking, which finally stopped the atmosphere from turning even more awkward than it already was.

''Umm... I don't think we employ men as _young_ as you are even if someone resigned just a week ago. Hell, we don't employ men in general.''

''May I ask why don't hire men? I do understand why the age would be an issue, though.'' Ichika answered.

''What I know, the boss just considers men to be perverts or something. She has probably had bad experiences with men. So she just refuses to hire men.'' The receptionist answered with a sigh.

''However, many customers have demanded male masseurs.'' She added.

Ichika's eyes lit up from her statement. Perhaps, the demand from customers might make the boss accept male masseurs since even she had to listen to what her customers said. When Ichika was trying to ask another question, the female boss walked to the reception. Ichika had no idea if she'd been there for the duration he'd spoken with the receptionist or had she just arrived here.

''Ara ara. Do we have a boy here?'' The boss remarked with an arrogant smirk.

''I guess young boy like you is here for _perverted_ reasons like all other men.'' She added with arrogance still being present.

Ichika frowned at her statement. He was no damn pervert. Right? His sister had made sure of that. Having a brother like that would be an embarrassment. When Chifuyu came to his mind, Ichika had an idea.

''Maybe telling them that I am _her_ brother, would impress them?'' Ichika wondered as the boss started to giggle at Ichika.

For a woman in her thirties, she sounded like an obnoxious high school girl with her giggling.

''I am not sure if you might care but I am Orimura Ichika. Orimura Chifuyu's, the Brunhilde's, little brother.'' Ichika said in a loud voice, though without shouting, and with confidence.

The boss stopped her laugh. And the receptionist just stood there stunned. She had missed the part where Ichika had mentioned his name just a few moments ago. The boss looked at him with a serious look on her face. Her face soon turned into a surprised expression as Ichika's appearance was undeniably very similar to Chifuyu (like a male version of her so to speak). Ichika's gaze was also identical to that of Chifuyu. Her gaze had been recorded by the media during the matches against her opponents, so Chifuyu's gaze was certainly known worldwide. The gaze was not famous for being a _nice_ kind of gaze, remind you.

''EEEEEHHHH~ THE BRUNHILDE'S BROTHER?'' The boss shouted.

The exclamation made by the woman made Ichika regret that he had not used this tactic before. Oh well, at least, it worked now. Perhaps, he would've already gotten a job. It was also odd how nobody had previously reacted to seeing his name on the CV. It wasn't like his surname was very common. Then again, many employers didn't take a good look at Ichika. Clearly, they should have. The woman's loud exclamation made other women around the parlor flock to the reception. Oh boy, he was going to have one hell of an audience around him. Luckily, it wasn't all the women in the parlor, though. Many were still, well, having a massage so it would be stupid to just pause the massage for one guy's sake. But those who were waiting around near the reception heard the exclamation made by the boss. The reception was separated by thin walls from the waiting rooms, which made it easy to here. Ichika couldn't fathom why there even where waiting rooms.

''Maybe the place was busy and the massages didn't last long?'' Ichika wandered about the layout of the parlor as the women were starting to surround him.

''Wait?! _Her_ brother is here?'' One woman exclaimed.

''Is he here for getting a massage for the Brunhilde?'' Another one added at the same time trying to have a look at Ichika.

All kinds of women were surrounding Ichika with all kinds of questions in their heads. Ichika was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable when so many women were getting near him. Luckily for Ichika, he was taller than these women.

_Average height of Japanese women is not very impressive compared to Westerners, hell even Chifuyu is only 165 cm tall (__5.4 feet), and Ichika is taller than her, over 170 cm (__≈5.58 feet__) currently as a 10-year-old boy, though he is exceptionally tall for his age because his puberty has started early – a year ago. (In the anime and light novels he's 174 cm or 5.7 feet tall)_

''I'm not here for getting a massage for Chifuyu-nee,'' Ichika said. Women were confused because of his statement (well, except the receptionist).

''She is not even in Japan at the moment,'' Ichika added. Women were surprised as they thought that Chifuyu would still be in Japan. It had not been too long since the Mondo Grosso Tournament, after all.

''I am not going to say where she is or why she is away. I'm not allowed to tell you.'' Ichika continued. Disappointment could be seen in women's faces. Some of them probably thought that Chifuyu would come here in a few days if she had a massage here.

''Well, could you recommend us for her then at least?'' The boss had finally opened her mouth. Certainly, having the Brunhilde here would bring this place a lot of publicity – and revenue – so it wasn't a surprise that she would ask this. She hoped that Chifuyu would come there when she returned from abroad.

''We've had IS users come to us before. I guarantee our service will be more than satisfactory.'' The boss continued enthusiastically and trying to persuade Ichika with an annoying smirk on her face.

''She doesn't require a massage from any of you. I massage her _myself_!'' Ichika stated with confidence with images of Chifuyu during one of their massage sessions popping into Ichika's mind. Silence followed his surprising statement.

''EEEEEEHHH? Brunhilde's little brother MASSAGES her?!'' All women screamed in confusion.

''Damn, this hurts my ears.'' Was the only thing Ichika could think of. Suddenly, much to Ichika's confusion, women started to blush for some reason.

''Fufufu. Chifuyu gets her massages from her little brother.'' The boss exclaimed with excitement.

''Ara ara. Who would've thought that her brother pleases her every night?'' The receptionist said.

Women blushed even harder as they heard the woman say that. Ichika had no idea what they meant.

''I guess that's the reason why she still doesn't have a boyfriend or a husband.'' Another one added.

''She has _her brother_!'' She continued giggling. Some of the women started to have nosebleeds as their thoughts became more _indecent_ and their imagination started to run _wild_.

''Ehehe~. Forbidden sibling loveeee~!'' One of the women exclaimed loudly.

''Who would've known that she's a big _shotacon_? She is 18 years old, right? And he's….'' Another one added.

''What's wrong with these women all of a sudden?'' Ichika was very confused about women's behavior.

It wasn't like Ichika was dense or anything even if it looked so. He knew how his female friends have reacted to him but this kind of behavior was just odd for Ichika. Meanwhile, the women surrounding Ichika were losing their marbles because of their misunderstanding of the relationship between Ichika and Chifuyu, the boss finally decided to speak.

''Okay, let's calm down a bit.'' The boss and other women started finally relax in some way though blush was evident on their faces.

''Then what's your reason to come here?'' The boss continued.

Ichika sighed and then continued with a confident voice for he knew it attracted the attention the most and made him more believable after seeing how it affected others.

''I'll say this again as I had said to the receptionist. I'm seeking employment… as a masseur.''

The boss and the women didn't laugh, just looked confused.

''B-but you are underage – and a male?'' The boss said.

''And most importantly, are you even skilled masseur?'' The boss asked Ichika.

''I know you said that you performed massages to your.. your.. sis...sister..'' The boss couldn't help but blush as 'thoughts' came to her mind but abruptly came back to her senses.

''But are you even skilled, that's the question? Do you know that you are qualified?'' The boss inquired. The other women were also eager to know the answer.

Ichika was starting to realize _how_ he should answer her questions to get the right reaction, however, his next answer was full of truth, nonetheless.

''She sure as _hell_ screams and moans my name when I massage her _hard _and have my hands all over her,'' Ichika said with the most confident and the somewhat _erotic_ way that he could although he didn't have any idea about the implications of his own words.

''AAAAHHH!'' The women screamed like high school girls as their faces became full red because of this erotic statement. Women were convinced of what he said because his behavior and expressions didn't signal that he was lying.

''Well, it might be the case that you can perform a good massage. After all, they say that the Brunhilde is hard to _please_? The boss said this half-jokingly and continued giggling like a girl alongside with the other women.

Ichika was starting to lose his sanity with these women. He was done with the odd behavior of this flock of girl-like women. He wanted clear answers regarding his employment now. This conversation had derailed for too long for his liking. Ichika had no time to waste.

''DAMN IT! Do I get the job or not?'' Ichika said furiously. His killing intent – comparable to the Brunhilde – started to spill out unintentionally.

All the women around him froze up because of his fury. Some started to pale and fear was evident in many of their faces. Ichika started to glare at every one of the women that were present and surrounding him. All of them, including the boss, started to shake from fear. Then Ichika began to realize how far he had gone.

''I-I'm sorry. My temper got the best of me.'' Ichika apologized and the dangerous aura surrounding faded away immediately. Finally, women could breathe.

''It's just stop… stop teasing me.'' Ichika continued and started to speak in a sheepish and innocent voice. The atmosphere in the room finally started to normalize.

''I-I… I just want to look for a job so I won't be a…. b-burden to my onee-san.'' Ichika continued, his voice is full of boyish innocence, which started to warm hearts of the women around him. Ichika started to stare at them with puppy-like eyes but at the same time with a determined stare so the women, especially the boss, knew that he wasn't messing around.

''I-I see now.'' The boss answered in a normal voice, which Ichika hadn't, in fact, heard the single time during the conversation.

''I guess I could employ – and I don't like employing men – nor do I employ the underaged, mind you.'' The boss continued, glaring at Ichika.

''I know that,'' Ichika said.

''M-maybe I could prove to you that I can do a good massage?'' Ichika continued with confidence knowing how the other women would react after seeing their reactions too many times.

''W-well, I guess you could do that but what are your demands regarding your… salary?'' The boss inquired.

The salary was perhaps the most important things to take into consideration when choosing a job, of course, alongside many other factors like work hours. This was apparent even for a boy like Ichika. He had investigated what were the salaries of masseurs, which was difficult to determine. In the end, the market decides the salary, right? A successful parlor would be able to pay high salaries to its masseurs. Ichika had no idea how successful this place, however. The facade and the quite impressive interior suggested that the pay wouldn't be at least low.

''Well, what are your suggestions? I guess you can take into consideration that I'm the newcomer so then my pay might be lower than your full-time worker. Also, you can just give a part-time worker's salary.'' Ichika suggested to the boss.

The woman was surprised by the suggestions made by Ichika. For a boy, he sure did know a lot. She'd seen even some idiot adults during her career as an employer. He definitely wasn't one of them.

''I suppose I could give you a part-timer's salary once you show your skills as a masseur.'' The boss said giving Ichika a radiant smile. It was pretty, too.

''If you manage to nail this customer, I will hire regardless of your age or sex, even if the law stated otherwise.''

Her smile was all the Ichika needed to know that she was willing to give him a chance to show his talent. Was he a talented masseur? Ichika believed it himself. And he had no delusions about himself. Being overshadowed by the glorious Brunhilde sure made one know their place but even Chifuyu-nee didn't possess skill like Ichika had when it came to massage. And household chores. She was helpless in the kitchen. He never teased Chifuyu about that, though, because it would be suicidal.

* * *

Women who had not long ago surrounded him like he was some sort of pop star started to beg that he should massage them. This was not a surprise, even for an inexperienced boy like Ichika who hadn't ever before massaged other women. Ichika sensed that these women hadn't somewhat been… in a male presence for a long time. Ichika could swear that Chifuyu's senses would soon scream even if she was in Germany after he touched another woman as he had touched her.

The female boss, her name being Aoi Fumi, already had a client ready for him. Apparently, it was someone else's turn but she decided to hand over the woman to him. Ichika was certainly glad that it wasn't one of the eager women whom he had seen earlier. Who knew what they would do to him. Maybe the boss knew this. Ichika hoped that the client was... not too vital for the parlor. Because if he managed to screw up a little, well, he was doomed – perhaps, even the parlor. Then again, he was confident in his abilities as a masseur so he didn't have anything to worry about but it was always healthy to have some doubts and not to be overconfident.

''Maybe Chifuyu-nee was overconfident and that's why she left me unprotected during the 2nd Mondo Grosso.'' This suddenly came to Ichika's mind, which didn't bring him any joy, now that he was reminded about _that_ event. Ichika definitely didn't like questioning his sister's abilities and intelligence but one might wonder that didn't she put him to safety for the duration of Mondo Grosso. He should have attended the damn tournament live. Maybe he should've watched it together next to Rin (much to her delight) and with rest of Huang family. Ichika's mood, for a moment, turned dark but as he finally entered the massage room, the mood finally changed.

''Oh boy, I haven't done a massage in a few months come to think of it.'' Ichika thought. Despite a long time since the last massage, it would be very unlikely that he had lost his touch. After all, Ichika had good muscle memory. Besides, he could always ask the woman he massaged how she felt – like he does with Chifuyu. She sure would be surprised that her masseur wasn't, in fact, a woman – but a boy. But often a masseur didn't have the ask for advice since her _reactions_ would tell where was the right spot.

The woman, who seemed to be a redhead with fair skin. She was no doubt of Western descent than Japanese, even without seeing her face which was currently turned away from Ichika. Seeing Western people wasn't unusual in Japan anymore. Sure, there had been people from the West continuously ever since the 19th century but now there were even more of them ever since the invention of IS. Because the Infinite Stratos was the child of Japan – Tabane Shinonono's more accurately – Japan had become the world center of scientific research regarding the Infinite Stratos, which was every scientist's focus at the moment. The redhaired woman was on a prone position on the floor with her hands wrapped on the soft mattress under her chin like the people usually were when they were given a massage. There was a kimono – a traditional Japanese dress – near her, which Ichika assumed to be hers. Not many Western women liked to wear kimonos – neither did many Japanese women. Ichika could see all of her flesh, except _those_ _parts_ of her body. Her body no doubt reached, no, _definitely_ exceeded the Western and Japanese beauty standards. Ichika could only deduce that she definitely took care of her body by training rigorously and often. Her back had strong muscles and also her biceps were large – for a woman – though not larger than Chifuyu's, perhaps even smaller. And, of course, much to a man's, and to Ichika's, liking she had large breasts from what little Ichika could see under her longs arms. The redhaired woman didn't say anything as Ichika entered. He concluded that the woman only expected to get a massage – and no chit chat. Perfectly fine for Ichika. Maybe Fumi did put her as his client because of this reason? While surprised by her silence, Ichika decided to continue going even more towards the redhaired woman. Ichika descended towards the woman by going on his knees since she was laying on the ground as Chifuyu had done in their home. Ichika proceeded to do the massage style he knew the best – the old classic, Swedish massage (the massage we all love and recognize). As Ichika was doing the massage he could hear the moans of the woman, begging him where to move his hands next, where to apply pressure, etc. It started to remind him about the massages he'd done to Chifuyu. Come to think of it, the places where this woman needed the most _help_ with were almost identical to Chifuyu's. Did she do similar activities to Chifuyu like the same kind of physical training or something? Ichika could only think that maybe the woman was an IS user. Fumi did, not too long ago, mention that many IS users attended this massage parlor. That would explain why Ichika had such thoughts about this client being exceptionally important. After all, the IS users, even the _low_ _qualified_ ones, were wealthy people. Ichika also realized that her level of enjoyment was similar to Chifuyu's, which emboldened Ichika since Chifuyu was a woman hard to please. Ichika decided to mirror the same actions he did to Chifuyu even more than he had before. Soon he noticed that it had a great effect on the redhaired woman. No doubt, she was an IS user. He could only deduce that the training methods were similar enough, perhaps, between all IS users, so the required massage techniques applied almost similarly to every IS user if Ichika were ever to massage every one of them. Or maybe she was part of the elite IS users who shared similar methods to Chifuyu since she was the very best of the IS users. Maybe all were trying to copy her. Regardless, the same massage techniques Ichika had used during his massage sessions with Chifuyu had similar effects on the redhaired woman. Her reactions were, in fact, much stronger than Chifuyu's. Maybe she was slightly more sensitive or had never experienced such a massage. If the last one was the case, Ichika would have a lot of pride in himself that he might have outperformed many of the masseurs in this massage parlor.

''Th-thank you very much. You may leave for I want to rest for a while.'' The redhaired woman said. Ichika decided not to answer – which was odd – but he reasoned that answering with his male voice might freak her out. She had her eyes closed during the massage – convenient for him – and still had her eyes closed. Ichika managed to get a good look at her face – he had not paid to attention to it during the massage – and it seemed somewhat familiar. Her voice too was also something that Ichika could swear he'd heard it somewhere before. However, Ichika didn't waste any time and swiftly exited the massage room.

Ichika went to the boss's room to tell her the news. Before he managed to talk to Fumi, she quickly left the room and went towards the reception. Her client, or rather Ichika's client, was there to thank her. Aoi Fumi surprised her by telling that it wasn't her that massaged the redhaired woman but Ichika.

''So… you finally employed a man? Or.. more accurately... a boy?'' Was all the woman could say. A surprise could still be heard in her voice.

''Yes, he... despite his age.. assured that he had the skills of a professional masseur, even better, in fact.'' Aoi Fumi answered.

''You were right to employ him, that's for sure. He's better than you, Fumi-san.'' The redhaired woman answered with a smirk on her face.

''It'd been hard times lately. Massage helped a lot.'' She added.

Fumi was surprised by her statement – but her face soon turned to a radiant smile. She had definitely employed a worthy employee. That was certain. Ichika was also relieved that the woman didn't freak out because a boy had just massaged her.

As the redhaired woman left the parlor, Ichika left the boss's room to watch her leave and to talk to his boss.

''So, what was her name anyway?'' Ichika inquired.

''Oh, I must've forgotten to tell you. Her name is...''

''… Alicia Josestof.''

Ichika could only stare in shock at the exit where Alicia just left moments earlier.

* * *

**A/N:**

**It's pretty odd how nobody ever bothered to find out who kidnapped Ichika. Apparently, it was the Phantom Task in the original timeline but why didn't anyone bother to search for those who kidnapped Ichika? Why didn't Ichika do anything to find about them?! That was why I decided to write this fanfiction.**

**Also, it's odd how Alicia Josestof doesn't appear in any fanfiction in this site despite her being the 'rival' of Chifuyu.**

**Yeah, Ichika now works as a masseur. It would make sense since he is a skilled masseur, after all. I made Ichika much more mature despite his young age, so it would be much more comfortable to write about his adventures with women.**

**Sorry for any grammar mistakes! English is not my first language!**


	2. Chapter 2

Things were certainly becoming interesting for Ichika. Apparently, one of the regular customers of this massage parlor was the very enemy Ichika had been seeking all along. Well, it was certainly a relief that he didn't have to spend half a year gathering money in order to get to Italy. Ichika currently sat in his employer's room. She had not yet arrived so he could think about his current situation in detail.

''It should've been obvious that even an IS user like Alicia had a home in Japan. This was the capital of the Infinite Stratos, after all.'' Ichika thought. He was angry at himself for overlooking such an obvious fact. But Ichika was also relieved that he no longer had to work. He could now put all of his attention to his training in order to defeat Alicia Josestof. But he had just gotten employed. The salary was good, too. Then Ichika realized. ''Of course! I could just get close to her and get more information on her by working here.'' Ichika knew that knowing where his enemy lived would be the most important thing to know. Well, he could attack her here in the parlor if he massaged her but this was a public place – there were witnesses. There was no way he could just leave this without anyone noticing what he'd done. The only sensible place where Ichika could go to kill her was her own home – or whatever was the place she was staying at. Ichika was certain that no one would suspect him to be the murderer. People might suspect that maybe one of Alicia's former opponents, like Chifuyu, was behind the murder but how could anyone suspect a little boy like Ichika? Ichika's age was certainly a blessing this time.

Ichika had a feeling that he should act soon. Maybe Alicia might leave Japan and his opportunity to kill her would be postponed. But he also needed time to hone his skills so he wouldn't die against her. He'd already lost against the two kidnappers he fought before. Ichika knew that their skills couldn't be anywhere near Alicia's skill level. After all, she was possibly one of the best IS users in the world alongside Chifuyu. Ichika was hopeless against his sister. Would it be as hopeless against Alicia, as well?

Ichika decided that his next move should be to gather information about her – from Alicia personally. Maybe he could ask her _normally_ that what were her plans in the recent future during one of their massage sessions. It wasn't like that he would ask anything too private. If Alicia just revealed how long she would still stay in Japan and when she returned to Italy, Ichika knew how to plan his future schedule. He had to train during the following weeks, perhaps months, so could stand a chance against her. His main weapon would be a surprise. Alicia might even hesitate to fight if she saw Ichika and then he could strike her down. That was his plan. Now it remained to be seen how long it would take until his plan would finally transpire.

Ichika was certain that Alicia would want to be massaged by him when she attended the massage parlor soon. Ichika found out that she had scheduled a massage for tomorrow. He'd heard that when Fumi was on the phone. Ichika had eavesdropped the conversation. His performance during their first official massage sessions had certainly been an outstanding success – a great leap forward in Ichika's plan. Ichika looked forward to their next session. But he had to massage other women, as well, during his first work day. He preferred to massage Alicia only as she had something to reveal to him but Ichika had to keep up the facade. He couldn't reject any customer that was offered to him. And he had a lot of customers that wanted to be massaged by him. Certainly, very flattering to Ichika no doubt but some of the women were… bit… odd. It was like women had never been touched or hadn't been touched for a long time by a man. It was like they were craving for it a lot, which was an understatement. Fumi really should have hired male masseurs in the past. Who knew how long these women had craved male attention? If Ichika was an adult or just a few years older, he could probably sense their _thirst_. Maybe it was best for Ichika that he was still oblivious about adult stuff.

* * *

**(Next massage session)**

Now it was time for Ichika to perform another massage, this time, to another woman. Ichika prayed that Chifuyu would never find out what he'd done when she was away for a year. The woman was the one he had seen before. Yeah, she was one of those excited women that saw him earlier today. And she, particularly, was excited for a massage performed by him. Just before the massage sessions, she revealed her name to be _Misa_. She had forbidden him to enter the massage room and wait for her to organize something. Ichika was confused. Removing clothes and taking a prone position wasn't difficult at all – and Misa had attended place before, so what took her so long?

Ichika finally got permission to enter the room. The room he entered looked very different than he'd imagined. The place was beautifully decorated! Guess that was the reason for the delay. ''Where did she even get these decorations?'' Ichika wondered. Then he remembered that there might've been some stuff here and there that could be used as decorations. Most of them were from the large closet that had many decorations in it. Misa had probably managed to sneak them inside the room. Usually, it was the masseur's job to decorate the room, obviously. ''I guess she likes to get a massage in a well-decorated room. She could've just asked me for help.'' Ichika wondered about Misa's odd behavior. He couldn't describe what the room looked like right now. The right word would have been – sensual – but he didn't know such a word. It was clear (though not for Ichika) what might be Misa's intention.

''Please, come here, Ichika-kun,'' Misa said softly. She was in the standard massage position as was to be expected.  
Ichika walked towards Misa when she asked him. He continued by starting the normal massage.  
''Uuu~! You sh-should.. touch me harder~~, Ichika-kun.'' Misa said erotically. Ichika was confused by her words. Sure, Ichika expected the woman to moan, even to scream occasionally during the massage, but her reaction was… unusual for Ichika. However, he did as told and the massage continued from there normally.  
The massage was nearing its end. Ichika had to endure more odd reactions from his client. Ichika started to wonder what else the future massages might show him. He realized that not all women reacted as Chifuyu and Alicia had.

''W-wait! Don't leave just yet, Ichika-kun.'' Misa stopped Ichika from leaving the room.

''What is it? If it's another massage that you want then I expect compensation.'' Ichika said to Misa firmly. Usually, another massage was not asked for but if that was the case, compensation would certainly be appropriate as it took time from other clients and from the masseur.

''Oh? Compensation? You'll certainly receive one.'' Misa answered confidently. Her voice had an eerie tone to it in Ichika's opinion. It was like a surprise would come soon.

''I-I want you to massage me here,'' Misa said and then she suddenly turned around to a supine position and put her hands over her breasts signaling where she wanted Ichika to touch her.

''W-wait- what?!'' Ichika thought almost aloud. Misa removed her hands from her breasts and revealed them full in their glory to Ichika. The sudden development almost freaked Ichika out and he even considered running away from the awkward scene. He was, however, frozen and just kept standing there, not knowing what to do next. How amusing that two attackers couldn't freak out Ichika but Misa's… behavior could. Soon, Ichika could feel that a nosebleed was coming and tried his best that the blood wouldn't come out of his nose. That would be embarrassing.

''Come on. D-d-don't just stand there! Come over here.'' Misa said loudly. Her assertive voice reminded Ichika about his onee-san and the reminder about his big sister finally made him comply with Misa's unusual request. Ichika walked towards Misa who certainly looked very excited and Ichika kneeled next to her, unsure how he should continue. Ichika sure was an experienced masseur. However, his sessions with Chifuyu did not involve massaging the frontal part of the female body – especially, not the breasts. Chifuyu had, in fact, told Ichika that inappropriately touching these parts of the female body was strictly forbidden. She had told him this when he had 'accidentally' touched her breasts during their very first massage session. It was a surprise for Ichika that she had not killed him back then for such a mistake.

''Chifuyu-nee will KILL me if she ever found out!'' Ichika thought, slightly panicking. Ichika proceeded to put his hands on Misa's breasts. Misa was a short woman with long brown hair. She was like 152 cm tall (5 feet tall), so she was much shorter than Ichika. Her assets, however, were impressively large for her size. Ichika's hands were large enough to cover her breasts because of his large body size compared to Misa. It was like all the women he encountered, had large breasts. Adult Ichika would surely be lucky in the future. Misa also had a very kind looking face that made her look like an innocent girl, though she was in her late twenties. Because of her innocent girly looks, Ichika had not expected something like this to happen. Chifuyu had warned him about male perverts. She should have specified that women could also be perverted.

''Aaaa~ Good... Ichika.'' She moaned despite the fact he had not massaged them or anything yet, just touched them. He did have a rather firm grip of her breasts, so that might explain the reaction. Despite his inexperience, Ichika decided to use some of the massage techniques he knew on Misa's breasts. It had its desired effect.

''AAAA~~! Continue… b-but HARDER!'' Misa demanded excitingly. Her face was very flustered. Ichika decided to as she had asked.

''Huh, why does my _ochinchin_ feel weird?'' Ichika wondered about his… next development. He had a sudden feeling that he should run away and hide behind a cover or something.

''Fufufu. He might just lose it soon- Huh? He's getting big _down_ there. It seems he's not a little boy like he lets on. Hehehe.'' Misa thought indecent things in her as it was to be expected in this situation.

''I wonder what he would feel like inside me? No man has taken me yet despite my beautiful looks.''

''I..Ichika.. y-you should touch s-somewhere else as well,'' Misa begged. She made the situation even more awkward for Ichika as she removed the small towel that was covering her crotch and _those parts_.  
''Alright Ichika. What's taking you so long? Others are still waiting-'' Fumi interrupted their session and then…

''WHAT THE HELL?!'' Fumi shouted. Ichika now expected that he would be scorned – perhaps, even fired. He knew that… this massage session was quite inappropriate.

''MISA-SAN! You damn pervert!'' She said angrily. Ichika sighed. It seemed that she wasn't furious with him – but with Misa.

''I swear, I always knew you were bit weird in the head.. but...''

''...Now you want to make a boy have.. sex with you?'' Fumi said.

''Wait, s-s-sex with her?'' Ichika thought, confused. Ichika knew very little about it since he was a boy but he'd heard about it at school from older pupils. He hadn't yet gotten a sex-ed so the details were still blurry for him. Older pupils would've killed someone in order to get to Ichika's position.

''I will warn you again, Misa. Do something like this again. You'll never get a massage here again – especially, not from Ichika.'' Fumi stated with an authoritative voice.

''I don't want to have a shotacon as my client.'' She continued. Ichika wondered if he should say something during this awkward conversation. So far, even Misa had not said anything.

''Uhh... Sorry, Fumi-san. It won't happen again.'' Misa said with a hint of disappointment in her voice – however, she didn't regret her actions at all. Before Ichika could comment on the situation, other women outside the massage room had heard some parts of this awkward conversation. Especially, the _sex_ part. Soon, women, who were still waiting outside the room, tried to eavesdrop the conversation. Some even tried to have a small look to see if Misa or Ichika was naked. One woman sighed as she only saw Misa naked, which did not interest her. Other women kept wondering if something indecent managed to happen.

''These women sure are weird. Hopefully, the rest of the day and other days won't be as eventful as this has been.'' Ichika thought worryingly. After all, he was only interested in Alicia since she had information – and she was his target. Fumi quickly noticed the other women behind her and ordered them to go back to their seats. The work day would continue uneventfully – much to Ichika's delight.

* * *

**(The employer's room)**

''So...you are paying me already? I thought there was a monthly salary, not a daily.'' Ichika asked Fumi as she already offered him a pay for today's work.

''Well, yes. You are right, we don't do that here but you did so well today. The main reason is that someone had given a massive donation because of your good work.'' Fumi answered happily. The donation was definitely huge. Hundreds of thousands of yen. Part of it will also be given to other employee's pockets and of course, to the employer Fumi and probably to upkeeping the parlor.

''Well, who gave the donation? She must've been very impressed.'' Ichika inquired.

''Oh, it was Alicia Josestof, the first woman you massaged.'' Ichika's face lighted up. A small smirk could be seen forming on his face – he usually did not smirk _like_ that. It seemed that she had been very satisfied with his performance. A huge boon to Ichika's plan. Getting close to her would be much easier in the future, Ichika thought.

''This is not the first donation she's given to this parlor but I've never gotten such a huge donation from her.'' Fumi continued. She was certainly pleased that Ichika's hard work had brought her a lot of money.

''So, as thanks, I decided to give a pay this early. I hope you are satisfied.'' Fumi said.

''Oh, I'm more than satisfied. I'm very grateful for, Fumi-san.'' Ichika said trying to be as humble as he could. Chifuyu didn't want her brother to be an arrogant person. Hopefully, it would stay that way.

''No, the pleasure is all mine. I'm so sorry that I didn't believe in your skills earlier today. I also must apologize for being so... rude to you, as well.'' Fumi said apologetically, regret could be heard in her voice. Ichika was taken a bit back by her statement and by the tone of her voice. He had not heard her speak like that before. Maybe she never spoke like.

''Oh, don't worry about it. It's not like anybody could expect a em10-year-old boy to be this good at massaging.'' Ichika said, trying to lift the mood as it was making him feel weird.

''W-wait? You're ten years old? I thought you were l-like th-thirteen or fourteen years old!''

''Huh? I thought it was obvious.'' Ichika said.

''You definitely look way older.'' Fumi said still confused because of his young age.

''Well, I guess that's because my puberty started like.. almost a year ago. At least, that's what Chifuyu-nee has been saying. Her puberty probably started early as well.'' Ichika tried to explain.

''Well, it's quite common for girls to get puberty as early as nine years old, so it's not anything uncommon. But for boys, that happens much later. Usually, when they're like 12 or 13.'' Fumi reasoned. ''That's why young boys always seem so dumb compared to girls who are the same age but at a different development level.''

''Yeah. I've seen it. My friends are pretty dumb but I don't hate them because of that, though. Even my female friends are pretty.. simple at times.'' Ichika continued as the conversation seemed to become like a middle school biology lecture.

''Hehehe. _Female_ friends, Ichika-san, you have those already?'' Fumi said with a teasing voice.

''Wait. What are you trying to say, Fumi-san?'' Ichika asked.

''Are planning to get a girlfriend soon?'' She continued teasing him.  
''N-no. They're just my friends. My first ever friend was also a girl.'' Ichika said tried to ignore Fumi's question.

''Heh. A boy and a girl just being friends? Impossible.'' Fumi said bluntly.

''W-well… She did say that if she won the next kendo championship, I would become her boyfriend- W-wait. Oh shit, did she intend it like that?'' Ichika almost freaked out.

''HAHAHA! You are a dense fool, Ichika-baka. HAHA!'' Fumi started laughing like she hadn't laughed for real for a long time. It did seem more genuine than her laughter earlier today when she was mocking Ichika. It had to be pretty boring here at the parlor for most days.

''I'm not dense! It's just... I try to ignore their advances. I don't want to outright reject them because otherwise, they would be heartbroken.'' Ichika explained his odd way with girls he knew.

''You shouldn't play with maiden's heart like that, Ichika. You shouldn't lead them on.'' Fumi said.

''I guess.. you're right but I couldn't even reject her because the next day she and her family were taken away by the government for protection.'' Ichika continued with a slight sadness in his voice.

''It seems you know... interesting people,'' Fumi said.

''Oh yeah, you would be delighted to know that her big sister was no other than Tabane Shinonono,'' Ichika said happily – he knew how Fumi would react.

''W-w-what? You know Tabane Shinonono?!'' Fumi was shocked but managed to keep her voice down.

''Yeah, she and my sister were best friends. Well, Tabane was always annoying my sister but I think she considered Tabane her friend nonetheless.'' Ichika continued, relieved that Fumi managed to not make a huge scene.

''I know I shouldn't probably ask but do you know where is she? She's been gone now for a long time. The whole world has been looking for her!'' Fumi asked curiously.

''No, I do not, neither does Chifuyu. I guess Tabane is doing some research in secret or something.'' Ichika answered.

''I bet Chifuyu is more than relieved that Tabane is not now annoying her all the time.'' Ichika started laughing. He remembered all too well those times when Chifuyu snapped at Tabane and started beat her – somehow Tabane kept going after like a dog – in Tabane's case, like a rabbit (Tabane wore weird pink mechanical rabbit ears on her hair).

* * *

The first workday had definitely been interesting. Not only did Ichika get paid handsomely, but his plans also changed completely – to a better direction, though, much to Ichika's satisfaction. But there was still much to do today. Luckily, doing massages wasn't physically demanding and it didn't waste any of Ichika's energy. Since now it was time for training.

Ichika had decided weeks ago that his choice of weapon would be a blade of some sorts. (A gun was out of the question because he couldn't buy one for obvious reasons.) Perhaps, a katana? There were short variants of katana. The long variant would be problematic but not because it was difficult to use, instead, it was difficult to keep hidden. Walking around the city with a katana in his hand? It would be difficult to convince any passer-by that he didn't intend to kill anyone with it. Ichika didn't believe that his age could prevent people becoming suspicious of his intentions if he ever walked the streets or entered the house (where he hoped Alicia would be in) with a sword in his hand. He doubted that he could just pretend to people that he was just a cosplayer. A shorter variant of a katana – wakizashi – would still be too long that it could be hidden in any practical way. The only option left was either a common knife or _tantō_ – the traditional Japanese knife resembling katana that was even used by the Samurai themselves. Tantō, for some reason, was available to Ichika as Chifuyu had collected traditional Edo period weaponry. Many weapons just laid around in Chifuyu's former room. Maybe she never expected Ichika to go there to get some weapons but then again Chifuyu had trained Ichika in martial arts, namely budō (Japanese martial arts), so it would be expected that he might use the weapons eventually even without her permission. Budō included use of weapons like a training sword resembling katana – bokkun (Ichika's friend Houki used to carry that around all the time for some reason) – if Ichika ever decided to train some budō styles that involved using a katana. But Ichika wanted to especially improve his skills regarding the use of a knife. Sure, knowing how to use a sword would be the most preferable option because if the murder attempt failed and he had to switch weaponry, the katana would be the best weapon to use in the fight against Alicia. But again, his strategy involved a surprise attack and stabbing her to death – preferably only one stab was enough if tantō hit the lethal spot like a neck. Failing to kill her when she was at her most vulnerable (when Alicia was outside the IS suit and not expecting an attack) was the only option. Would the katana even be useful with him alongside his tantō if she decided to use the IS suit against him? The Infinite Stratos could withstand all traditional weaponry man could think of. Missiles, bombs, bullets, etc. Probably, even a nuclear bomb. A katana wouldn't do shit – hell, it couldn't even cut through medieval steel plate armor or slash through a riveted chainmail armor, unless it hit the weak spots of the armor. Owning a gun would certainly be a blessing for Ichika. He could swiftly kill Alicia from a safe distance – preferably with a sniper rifle or another kind of rifle – be done with it. Fighting in hand-to-hand combat or in any form of close quarters combat always had its risks, after all. Sadly, even if Ichika was an adult, getting a gun – even a 'less dangerous' gun like a handgun – was virtually impossible to get in Japan. Unfortunately for Ichika, Chifuyu didn't own a firearm collection, for some reason unknown to Ichika. Maybe Chifuyu just didn't like using guns or ever train to even use one. Then again, she had used the IS ever since she was a teen – the guns were obsolete and useless against another IS user. But it still made Ichika wonder. It would still be useful to know all fighting skills even for Chifuyu since she couldn't use her IS all the time. After all, illegally deploying an IS was a serious crime all over the world. The United Nations wanted to make sure that no single unwanted IS user suddenly tried to gain power with the help of IS or wreak havoc on people with it. But what if a group of IS users decided to band together and use their power.. for their own ends? What could U.N do then? It had to rely on the fact that all other nations would try to stop rogue IS users. Hopefully, such a situation wouldn't come just yet.

Though, not intending to abandon his budō training, Ichika still wondered if he could acquire a gun through other means than just buying one – which was impossible for him, of course. And yes, he was fully aware that it was only possible via illegal means. Desperate times require desperate measures, right? The only weapon that Ichika could really use was a handgun, preferably as small as possible in order to hide it somewhere alongside his tantō. Even if he acquired one, carrying a weapon like an assault rifle wouldn't be very subtle when he was in a public area.

An insane plan sprung into Ichika's mind. Though, to be fair, it was probably no more insane than his planned future attempt to kill a highly-skilled IS user. In order to acquire a handgun, also with a silencer in order to make his murder a secret, Ichika had to steal it from a criminal, perhaps, or a criminal organization like Yakuza. The modern police were too well-equipped and too many in numbers, so planning to steal from a policeman was out of the question. Besides, they might recognize his face. After all, Chifuyu was a high profile person, so that somewhat made him well-known – and the government certainly knew about his kidnapping incident. Come to think of it, was the government of Japan watching him? Not probably for heinous reasons as nobody would expect Ichika planning this kind of things in his young child's mind. Ichika started to wonder. Did Chifuyu tell them anything in confidence about Ichika and him needing... protection? Ichika hoped – not just for his mission's sake – but for the sake of his honor that Chifuyu hadn't considered Ichika to be so pathetically weak that he needed some babysitting by the government. The incident had already hurt his pride as much as it did. Ichika hated that he was as much of a burden to his sister as he already was in the past, so such a request made by her would just hurt him more.

* * *

**(Large criminal sector of Tokyo)**

Ichika lived far away from the crimes infested regions of the capital but, at least, he lived in the capital. So, the distance wasn't that bad. Usually, normal people were relieved that the distance from those areas was long but this time in Ichika's case – it was a curse. Well, at least, if he managed to cause quite a ruckus there, it wouldn't be seen near his living area where his school and workplace were also located.  
Tokyo was a large city, in fact, the largest in the world when looking at the definition of the Greater Tokyo Area. However, it wasn't difficult to discover the areas within the city that were full of dangerous activities like criminal gangs and organizations. Ichika took a bus to the outskirts of the Tokyo Area but he had to continue by walking because even the bus companies preferred to stay away from these regions. Possibility of getting the bus stolen by some gang was quite high. These stolen buses were usually then fortified and used as some makeshift tanks. These so-called tanks were still pretty pathetic looking and probably performed pathetically because it didn't have very good offensive capabilities despite having a strong armor. Ichika, in fact, saw one of the fortified buses when he walking in the streets near these crime infested areas. The fortified bus didn't even scare, more like, it tempted him to actually get a ride and get to his destination faster. Ichika was still away from the actual heart of this crime region. It was still a mystery why the government didn't bother to clean this area or send at least one IS pilot to clear the whole place and raze it to the ground. It wouldn't take a sweat to burn it to the ground. It would probably bring enjoyment to the pilot than any pain.

As Ichika neared the core region of the crime region, things were definitely escalating. It was like nothing new under the sun when he could just see and hear muggings and other crimes committed all around him. Even some passers-by ignored the chaos. Odd why he wasn't mugged by someone yet. It was like everyone was apprehensive of him and tried to stay away from him. It was like he had a hurricane inside him that flung everyone away from him. Whatever was the reason, it was much to Ichika's delight, because nobody was hindering his movements. He preferred to get to his destination quickly. Encountering criminals would just be a waste of time. Maybe other criminals around him also considered him a waste of time. Or, perhaps, they had some fragments of morality left in them and refused to harm a boy walking in the streets. That didn't matter to Ichika, though.

Ichika finally arrived at the core as they called it around here. It was something like out of a cyberpunk movie. A desolate region yet with some amazing signs and lights all around the place to make the atmosphere a little less tense than it actually was. It was, of course, all an illusion. The activities within these buildings weren't definitely anything like the flashy signs and lights showed to the people.  
One would think that by now Ichika would've encountered a person with a gun. Surprisingly, as he walked here, all the criminals used either their fists or their knives or other melee weaponry. The constant appearance of the melee weaponry made Ichika tempted to try his skills. Ichika wanted to test his skills against dozens of people. And nobody would probably even care if he killed ten people in cold-blooded murder. It still was murder after all. Though, nobody would ever report it. However, wasting his energy on some street brutes wasn't the way Ichika wanted to conduct his business here. No, he wanted to use his fighting skills against the people from whom he tried to steal a gun. Guns were like gems in this age. They were manufactured less ever since the appearance of the Infinite Stratos. Policemen had high-level weaponry but it was impossible to steal, even for Yakuza, unless they had a mule inside, which hadn't yet happened. Emphasize on the word yet. Knives and other melee weaponry were all around the places because they were commonly used even before the appearance of IS. The guns that were available, was in the hands of the powerful criminal organizations. Perhaps, that was the reason why nobody bothered the clean this place. These organizations like to keep a delicate balance of power, so, rarely any large scale gunfights ever happened. Perhaps, these organizations knew that they might just feel the wrath of IS or the powerful police forces if they ever tried anything funny. Though, they still ruled these crime infested places like small countries.

Ichika scoured around the core. The desolation around him didn't deter him from searching for a place that might have a gun. Had he been in another country, perhaps, Ichika would already have a handgun.  
''Perhaps I should steal two guns. A powerful rifle for the future and a pistol in order to kill Alicia. Yes, that's a sound plan. But do these organizations only have handguns as they're much more common or just rifles because they're more powerful? Hopefully, I can find them both quickly enough. I don't want to spend a night here. No child, even me, wouldn't want to do that here.''  
A large building stood in front of him. It had flashy lights and signs that welcomed the visitors, though, everyone knew never to visit it as it held dangers for them. The building looked like it was formerly an office building. It was used for its purpose probably before a recession hit. Ever since then, it became the den of evil men, than the honest working men that brought taxes to Japan. Now it was just a money drain. It was certainly interesting how even electricity could be still transferred here. Like, who paid the bills. Perhaps, even electric companies still wanted buyers, so they didn't discriminate. Maybe normal people lived here, so the government didn't want to make their lives suffering. But, perhaps, these people were normal in name only and were actually criminals. The government couldn't really know the truth. The entrance of the building, the outdoor, and its surroundings were empty. Ichika thought that there would be at least some kind of security like some armed men intimidating the intruders away. Perhaps, the surprise awaited inside. Regardless, Ichika decided to walk him. He was certainly confident that no danger waiting for him could defeat him. He didn't remember the fact that he got kidnapped by two armed women just weeks ago.

* * *

**(Yakuza Building)**

''I swear, I did not do anything to the shipment…! I did not steal any drugs… It must have been the other dealer whom I traded with.'' A man said fear of death could be heard in his voice.  
''Well, you should've paid more attention to the shipment. Didn't you notice that the dealer had given you less than was asked for, yet he got all the money for himself? Maaaan, you're an idiot. No wonder, you used to be and probably still are a drug addicted fool.'' Another man said angrily.  
''Please… I'll be more careful next time. It was only an error of.. few grams – not a whole package… right?!'' The shocked man continued. He was starting to lose it.  
''There will be no mercy. No mistakes are tolerated, even minor ones. Things are already as difficult as they are! Ever since the damn IS! The damn recession!'' The man roared.  
''Please.. h-have mercy, PLEAAAASE!'' The foolish man screamed.  
''You can be easily replaced. There'll be another. And there'll, in fact, a lot of replacements available. I'll shed no tear for you. I'll rather kill you, _fool_.'' The man grinned.  
''N-NO!''

***BANG***  
***BANG***  
***BANG***

Like from a movie, smoke came out of the barrel of the handgun. Ichika was a bit shocked – or more correctly pleasantly surprise, to put it in other words. He had just witnessed the death of a man before his eyes. It somehow… seemed… pleasant to watch for Ichika.  
''Wait, a handgun? He seems to be using it casually, too. And considering that he just executed his now former subordinate, he must be a powerful person in Yakuza.''  
A normal person would already run away as they heard a gunshot but for Ichika this was just another golden opportunity. Ichika defied normality.  
The Yakuza man soon turned to look at Ichika. His evil grin soon turned to a frown. But looking at the frown in detail, it more looked like that there was some… fear.  
''W-w-what do you want, _boy_? The man spat.  
Ichika walked closer to the man, after all, he had a gun, and he had to seize it. Being far away from him would disadvantageous. He would not expect him to steal a gun.  
As he got closer and closer, Ichika finally spoke.  
''Your gun. I want it. Give it to me, before something drastic happens.''  
An aura violently erupted out of Ichika. He wasn't aware of it. It was like he couldn't ever control it. It just erupted like a volcano that was also very difficult to predict whenever it would erupt. And it was _very _violent, indeed. Even Chifuyu's didn't match his. Perhaps, he had something very dangerous in him – far more dangerous than Chifuyu's.  
''I-I….'' The man stopped. It was like he had a trouble breathing, to even move his limbs, to move his finger around the trigger of the pistol that he had just recently used against his subordinate.  
Ichika looked at the man. Not too long ago, it seemed that the man had some power within, something that he could use to terrorize all the petty people around him – but now he seemed pathetic, just like the man who was just killed. Ichika's aura got only more violent as the pathetic sight of the man before Ichika only fueled him. The feeling of power over someone that seemed to be strong was a fulfilling feeling, indeed. His innocent eyes – well, usually innocent – that were brown like his sisters, now looked like it had lilac color. But if one looked deeper, it was like there was a crimson blooded eye within his lilac eyes. These eyes pierced the soul of the pathetic man that stood before Ichika. He was only an inch or two taller than Ichika as expected but he somehow seemed small – insignificant. It seemed that the man wouldn't give the gun. Maybe he would because of the terrifying sight before him or was he just defying Ichika even if that was dangerous. Ichika didn't bother to wait anymore – even if it had only been a few seconds – he quickly moved and grabbed the guns from the hands of this pathetic sight in front of him.  
''For a Yakuza man, you sure are more pathetic than I realized,'' Ichika said with devilish tone in his voice. He did not sound like a boy. It was like back then in the hospital. The hatred within him was there. Hopefully – for him I mean, not for the other people – it could be properly used against all his enemies, especially, against the enemy number one.  
The man did not react. He stood there frozen. His breathing had really stopped – though he still lived.  
''I want to learn how to use this gun. You seem to be good target practice. Stationary. And big enough to hit. Hehehe.'' Ichika laughed devilishly. He pointed the gun at the man. Ichika wondered how to properly aim with this thing. The Yakuza man was close to the previous man so he didn't even have to aim with it when he shot the drug addicted man.  
Ichika aligned his aim right – at least he thought so – and stepped a few steps back in order to hit his target from some distance away so it wouldn't be too easy for Ichika. The man hadn't still moved at all – good for Ichika. Then, Ichika smiled.

***BANG***

The man fell backward as he got shot in the head.

***SLUMP***

A sight of the dead body looked nice, indeed, in Ichika's eyes, especially, when it was his kill.

''So… Weight of human life as heavy as the sword? It looks light, pathetically light to me. Did she even KILL a person? Don't think so. Perhaps, I have to use my blade as well. Luckily, I brought my tantō with me. To test her interesting theory. This will… be a good pair of weapons to use.''

''I wonder, where are the rest of the targets? Hmm… Heh... I can already hear people walking frantically down the stairs. It's like I can hear all of them! Panic. Despair, too. Didn't they just hear a gunshot a few moments ago? What was so special about this? Can they… sense me... too?''

People came out of the doors. There were doors that lead to the stairs. A load of people came from there. Some had guns, though, only pistols. Also, there were other doors just in front of Ichika, near the counter that used to have a reception where customers where received. He was now the prized customer they've been waiting for all this time.

''This pistol's magazine can store 8 bullets. Now, I only have left… 4 bullets. He had shot 3 before me... and I had shot only one bullet.'' Ichika wondered the details about his gun's ammo situation.

''What can I see… There are 4 armed men around me. How convenient, I can kill them all. I feel that I can do it. It wouldn't be… possible... usually it wouldn't. But now… I feel that I can definitely do it. YES! They WILL all die. That's for DAMN sure.'' Ichika grinned happily. More people to kill. It wasn't like they were the people in the position to teach him about morals anyway. They were criminals, too. Now he was one, as well.

''Y-y-you. What… did you… do? Y-y-you are a MONSTER!'' An armed woman screamed. As he heard her, Ichika stared at her. His menacing eyes, lilac on the surface, crimson blooded within, stared at her soul. His violent aura erupted again. It had calmed down for a moment after Ichika had killed the pathetic man. Now it felt even more powerful than ever. Perhaps, it was because of the many armed people around him – though there were only 4 – the prospect of killing many people, the bystanders as well, seemed like a wonderful idea. The woman, at whom he stared, froze. Unable to raise her pistol at him. All the people around him were unable to move, in fact.

''It's like those small dolls I had to play with when I was younger. They just stand, lookin' at me, waiting for my next move, and they can't ever move. It's up to me how this situation unfolds. Just like with those dolls. Chifuyu… you once bought stupid looking dolls. Yes, yes, you meant well. I never saw her… so apologetic… so torned. I wanted them to perish. They were ugly to look at. What was she even thinking? I cut them up. Tore their heads out of their bodies, so their stupid faces couldn't look at me. I used all my strength to tear the body to pieces and then removed all the limbs that were still attached to the remains of the body. How fun. It was the only fun those dolls could ever bring me. Maybe she did it… for that purpose. It was the best feeling ever to destroy them. Yes, it was. Even the horrified look on Chifuyu's face, she looked so young then, was funny to look at. It was like her brother was something very different – foreign person, that had just walked in her home, despite the fact that I had been in front of her all along.''

Blooded corpses laid on the ground. They looked like what Ichika had done to those dolls he hated so much. The presence of these people felt like a similar insult as were those dolls that Chifuyu dared to buy for her brother as a present. They had been boys' dolls. Not girls' dolls. He didn't like them either way. This bloodbath had only one difference. There were four bullet holes in four different heads. The armed men and women had been taken care of, in a matter of seconds. Ichika searched the bodies of the armed people. They had similar guns as he had. There was one positive. Similar ammo, as well. He took all the spare magazines he could.

''Where are the rest of them? Their pathetic screams couldn't even match the deafening silence of those damn wretched dolls! They should've screamed louder. Maybe more people. Then I'd be satisfied. Those dolls… They'd made me angry. Stupid Chifuyu-nee, you meant well. Hurt me so much, regardless….''

Ichika turned right and stepped across the bodies of his victims. He went to the stairs. The stairs were wide. No wonder, so many people could just go down and up even in large clusters. Ichika proceeded to go upstairs. And he could hear.. whispers. Terrified whispers. Prayers, too. What Gods they were even praying to didn't matter. There were not many Christians or any monotheistic believers around here – even if there were – regardless, it wouldn't save them from death. As he stepped upstairs, the corridor before him was empty. The whispers were not from the corridor, then, but from the rooms near Ichika. They probably thought that they could be saved from Ichika or from some intruders. Ichika decided to take the first door in his left. He could hear the whispers becoming louder. Did they hear him coming or did he just hear their whispers louder as he stepped closer? In the end, it didn't matter. Ichika opened the door and-

***BANG***  
***BANG***  
***BANG***  
***BANG***  
***BANG***

Ichika had just – before the shots were fired – stepped back and turned left. He had reacted inhumanely quick, in fact. The shooter, who apparently had an assault rifle because of the rate of fire and the size of bullet holes, what Ichika could deduce, had continued shooting through the wall but the shooter had continued to shoot the wall to the right (left from shooter's perspective). The shooter had anticipated that Ichika would continue forward on the corridor, instead of walking towards the staircase. A grave error on the shooter's part. It seemed that the shooter also assumed that Ichika was dead. Even worse to assume that. Ichika could even hear… the sighs of relief. Time for relief wasn't yet, though. Ichika ran back towards the door that he had just opened. The shooter just arrived outside, as well.

***BANG***

Ichika had swiftly shot the shooter that had stepped outside. He should've stayed inside and taken a defensive position. Who knew, maybe Ichika couldn't dodge those bullets because he had to go towards the man shooting at him – and then Ichika would've died. But the man made a grievous tactical error – from which, he paid with his life. The people inside the room soon panicked. It seemed that there were no other people armed inside the room. They had lost their only defensive measure against Ichika. Still having those dolls in his mind, Ichika proceeded to slaughter the people in the room. Now with the assault rifle. It was like an office. It was like this was a workplace of some sorts. But he knew it was a den of criminals, not a damn workplace – well, it could be described as such, though it was not a legitimate workplace.  
Corpses laid around the room. Now with large bullet holes in their bodies. Though the rifle had a tremendous recoil, it felt more like a glorious power surge after every time Ichika pressed the trigger and a powerful bullet hit its victim.

''This is a glorious weapon. There's no doubt. Alicia would fall down like those dolls. But how would I even sneak out with it, and go back home? That was still left to be figured out by me.''

Ichika started to search the room. It was pretty inconvenient as the bodies were laying around him. The sight of them did not bother him, but the fact that they were in his way as he tried to move and search the drawers.

''I knew it. A weapon maintaining guide!'' Ichika said happily – with the innocent voice, everyone knew and loved. This was a building for criminals, after all. It had manuals like these. Maybe there were more guides on how to kill people that Ichika could use for help? At last, Ichika found out how to break apart his assault rifle. After all, he couldn't carry it while in the streets. It wasn't difficult for Ichika to break apart the assault rifle. There were rather simple procedures how to do it, some steps were somewhat more difficult than others but it didn't require any effort on Ichika's part. It was very natural for him, for some reason. Ichika had picked a bag that looked like a grocery store bag with a nice amount of room for a lot of groceries. Though, this was for storing an assault rifle and all of its magazines. Now, Ichika could just casually walk around the street and nobody would even notice that he had a bag full of weapon parts and ammo. Ichika was confident enough that he could continue his killing spree with his pistol. His rifle was already in the grocery bag. It had a nice knot around it, so no one could see inside it. Ichika had also put some soft canvas in the bag so the metal parts wouldn't just stick out of it. Everybody would recognize a weapon barrel that was just laying on the side of the bag and become suspicious. Luckily, Ichika had taken care of that.  
The massacre ensued as Ichika scoured all the rooms in the Yakuza building. Even with just a pistol and tantō, the people inside were no match for him. The Yakuza boss looked at him with the horrified expression. The horror behind it didn't make it memorable to Ichika, rather the amusement that it brought to Ichika. The man looked like a brute that had done all kinds of horrible things in his life. After all, how else could he be a Yakuza boss?

''Now, now... Ehh… We can.. negotiate something.. right?'' The Yakuza boss said with an obvious panic in his voice. It sounded so uncharacteristic for him, that was for sure. A tall man with muscles and everything. A face that used to have a cruel and determined expression on it – and it could deter some enemies if used at correct times when the man tried to look as intimidating as possible. But now, he looked pathetic, even more pathetic than the first man Ichika had ever killed. Ichika could only be so amused. No wonder, this would be a thing he'd not soon forget. Ichika simply declined. He didn't have to even say 'no'. His expression said anything. No need to even form a word on his mouth. The expression told everything he needed to say to the pathetic Yakuza boss. A gunshot soon followed. The man just slumped. Like he had just fallen asleep after a hard day of work. Maybe Ichika had given a rest for a man with a cruel life behind him. Maybe, it was just a blessing, rather than a curse given by Ichika. Ichika proceeded to mutilate the pathetic body of the man that was just an eyesore for Ichika. Maybe when it was just an unrecognizable mess, it wouldn't bother Ichika anymore. All these lifeless bodies that still looked like a human, reminded Ichika of those damn pathetic dolls that were given him as a present. Those were his 10th birthday, in fact. That wasn't many months ago, actually.

_''Like these humans, I didn't like that gift!''_ Ichika proceeded to write down those words on the wall – with the blood of his fallen victims. Blood seemed to be a much better way to write with than Ichika actually separated. Now he can write that sentence all over the place. And use all the blood he could until it all just dried up. The building would soon literally look like a bloody mess.

* * *

**(The next day, Military training facility in Germany)**

Like she had for the past few weeks, Chifuyu oversaw the training of German supersoldiers that had been genetically modified and engineered to be the very best soldiers in the world. Though only one of these would be her protege. Laura Bodewig was the girl's name. The girl who would be her protege. At first, she had been deemed a failure by the program. Though, that was for the emergence of IS. It had made all of them obsolete, after all. However, she showed some promise regarding the use of IS. Germany hadn't still caught up with the ever rising need of acquiring a skilled IS pilot to represent the country. It would be a huge disgrace not to have a IS pilot – especially, if it wasn't a particularly good one. The current representative, soon to be former, was a laughing stock. Though there sure were many bad IS users. It seemed that Germany just didn't have good pilots. This was a bad situation for a great power like Germany. Sure, a minor country could afford to have a pathetic pilot, nobody wouldn't mind since they were irrelevant. But a country like Germany with a bad pilot… things had to be changed soon. Luckily, they had the fabled Brunhilde at their side. Soon they would have a marvelous pilot. There was no doubt. Orimura Chifuyu's teaching skills were as fabled as her fighting skills. Laura would soon become a star pilot for Germany.  
For all these weeks, she had wondered how Ichika was doing. She felt that there was no need to call. If there were any problems, Ichika would soon call her. Unlike Chifuyu, Ichika actually knew how to wash dishes, clean the house and make food. Good for Chifuyu that the military facility had a cafeteria and a room to sleep at. Maintaining her own apartment would be… a great difficulty, to put it mildly. No, that was an understatement. Chifuyu was hopeless when it came to living alone. So much about the mantra of being an independent strong woman when it came to domestic things. She probably had to find a househusband that took care of all her domestic needs. So far, Ichika had done that part except for that part of man's duties. Her thoughts are soon interrupted by one of her colleagues.  
''Chifuyu-san. How is the training going with the girls?'' A woman named Clarissa Harfouch asked.  
''Same as usual. A slight improvement after every day.'' Chifuyu said nonchalantly. This was boring for her no doubt – at least, when compared to training IS herself or dueling against other IS pilots.  
''Your training regimen is no doubt the best I've ever seen. Should've used it when I was younger.'' Clarissa said happily.  
''Yeah yeah, thanks. I know that myself as well.'' Chifuyu said. She didn't care about her compliments – she knew how good it was personally.  
''By the way, you said you wanted to hear some news from Japan, right? Well, look at this headline from one of the popular newspaper.'' Clarissa said.  
''Yeah, I did request to hear some. Too lazy to look myself. Too busy all the time.'' Chifuyu answered.  
''The headline says.''

_Yakuza Building in the crime-infested part of Tokyo was brutally massacred!_

''Doesn't seem to be anything unusual. It is, after all, the crime-infested region.'' Chifuyu said. She didn't care about the hot news of today, it seemed.  
''Oh, it gets better. And more hilarious, in my opinion.'' She continues reading aloud.  
There were written sentences all around the building on every wall. They had the same sentence repeating after another.

_''Like these humans, I didn't like that gift!''_

Chifuyu's face turned into shock. This… reminded her of something. Something terrible that she saw a few months ago. It concerned Ichika, of course.

* * *

**(Flashback)**

_''Nee-san. Did you get me a birthday present?'' Ichika asked happily. Innocent voice as always._

_''Yes, Ichika,'' Chifuyu said happily. No one ever saw her as happy as she was with her little brother. It was Ichika's sole right to see Chifuyu's soft side that others could not._  
_Chifuyu proceeded to give the gifts to Ichika. Like all the years before, she always had difficulties in knowing what Ichika liked. After all, she was never around. It was quite the gamble to play. But so far, she'd nailed every attempt to give her brother a birthday present. For the past 10 years. Chifuyu loved it when Ichika face would light up in excitement and joy. It was so adorable to watch. It was like the highlight of her year. She just couldn't get enough of her cute little brother. Who wouldn't when he looked that adorable, right? This time Chifuyu had decided to give him toy figures this time. They looked like dolls from someone's perspective. But they were toy figures nonetheless. Chifuyu expected that Ichika would play with them. Like, make the guy-looking figures fight each other as superheroes do on the TV and in the films. Like a normal boy would. But on the Ichika's part, 'normality' was a wrong word to describe him._

_Something unexpected happened. And it would haunt Chifuyu for a long time._

_Ichika did not react with joy this time. The eerie silence freaked Chifuyu out. She usually did not but this unusual response did not sit right with Chifuyu. Seeing her brother cry or otherwise saddened would break her heart. She wanted to be the best possible sister she could be. Seeing him cry would be… too much to bear, even for a strong woman like Chifuyu. It was like taking all the strength she had – and then throwing it away. However, Ichika did not cry. It was far worse than she ever imagined._  
_''What kind of toys are these?'' Ichika said with a… cruel voice that Chifuyu had never heard before. It was like he was another boy._  
_Ichika continued staring at them. Chifuyu could sense that something was fuming within him. It was like hatred was exploding out of him._

_Ichika proceeded to viciously tear the dolls apart. Chifuyu just stood there watching it horrified. First, Ichika took the heads. Then he crushed them. There was some fake hair on the heads. Ichika picked the hair out of their heads and just scattered them around the mattress he was sitting on. Then he with all his might that he could muster his arms, Ichika tore the upper body of the figures to pieces. It would certainly be impressive. To manage to break the plastic like that. But this was scary for Chifuyu, not impressive. Ichika was not satisfied. He proceeded to tear the limbs out of the bodies. He took the arms out the shredded upper bodies and break the arms apart. It was like he tried to make the dolls… cease to exist. He tried to make them into dust. Ichika then did the same things to the legs. The dolls looked… nonexistent almost. Some slight resemblance of their original form still remained. Though it was faint. Despite his performance, Ichika did not calm down at all. His eyes turned to Chifuyu. His eyes were, like they were in the Yakuza building, lilac on the surface but a crimson blooded glare could be seen within if someone ever watched him straight in the eyes as his mood was like this. It was like someone would stare into bloody eyes but beauty was still seen on it. The beautiful lilac color. But his stare was nothing beautiful, no beauty existed, only fear invoking hate existed. Chifuyu's eyes almost turned into tears._

_''No he… he… he… can't… can't… be like that… please...'' Chifuyu had panicked. Ichika's glare remained unmoved and unchanged, he kept staring the same way at Chifuyu. It was like staring into the eyes of a demon. Calling it a demon was an understatement. Even he might pale in comparison. But tears falling down her cheeks wasn't the only things she could feel. She could feel… or more aptly… couldn't feel anything. She couldn't move, couldn't even move her head away from Ichika's evil glare. Chifuyu kept watching into the horror before her eyes._  
_but then it stopped._

_''Chifuyu-nee, I am sorry!'' Ichika sobbed and quickly moved to Chifuyu's embrace. Her shirt was wet from Ichika's tears._

_''I-I shouldn't have done that.''_

_''I'm sorry, Chifuyu-nee! So sorry!'' He kept apologizing. His innocence was back. Some tears still fell down Chifuyu's cheek – tears she hadn't shed in a long time. It had been almost nine years, in fact, from the day she had cried last time. At least, Ichika had returned normal… from… that state. Chifuyu kept embracing Ichika. She, too, was confused about what had just happened._

_''I buy you another gift, Ichika. It's your birthday, after all. I have money, don't worry. I buy you a gift you personally want this time, okay?'' Chifuyu was trying to calm down her brother. She didn't want to see him cry. It broke her apart. It reminded her too much of the bad past._

_''I'm sorry, nee-san.'' Ichika could only say._

_''So… sorry...''_

**(Flashback ends)**

* * *

''Chifuyu-san, are you okay?''

''Hello?''

''Chifuyu-san!''

''Instructor!''

''ORIMURA-SAN!''

Chifuyu finally woke from her thoughts. She had dwelled on her horrible memories for too long.

''What happened Chifuyu-san?'' Clarissa asked worriedly.

''Was the news too horrifying? I thought that sentence was amusing.''

Chifuyu glared at Clarissa who immediately realized that she had to shut her mouth. Her protege Laura was just standing next to her. Other girls stood in front of her as well. They had a worried expression on their faces.

''Ignore that,'' Chifuyu said with a strict business tone. Her usual tone.

''Continue with this part of the training.'' She instructed the girls.

''Instructor, I did that already. I wait for further instructions, Instructor.'' Laura said.

''I'll show you what to do next, then.'' Chifuyu answered. This happened during every training regimen. Laura was, after all, the best of these girls. The future of Germany, they said.

* * *

**(At the cafeteria)**

''Sorry for asking, Chifuyu-san, but what made you… act like that when I mentioned the news?'' Clarissa inquired. It was understandable why she would ask. Everyone who was present had that question in their head. That seemed to be so uncharacteristic of Chifuyu. It was too odd for them to see the Brunhilde act like that. All had a warped view of her as a supernatural being of some sorts that had no imperfections. Boy, they were wrong.  
''I-I don't want to comment on it,'' Chifuyu answered with the normal tone.  
''You didn't even hear all the details,'' Clarissa said. This sparked curiosity in Chifuyu's head. She had to hear the full story.  
''There are even pictures. Though they are very gruesome. I searched the internet.'' She continued.  
''I suppose I could,'' Chifuyu said.

_It seems a single man achieved this impressively gruesome feat of destroying an entire Yakuza faction by killing every single person in the Yakuza building. Some people who were near the building claimed to see a very young man about the height of 170 cm._

''It's… Ichika's height… right? No no no no no. It can't be him. It can't be him. It can't be him. He doesn't even have the ability to do such feats.'' Chifuyu panicked in her mind – though she managed to keep herself under control so that Clarissa didn't notice.

_The man was carrying a grocery bag in his hand. Though he seemed to walk as nothing had happened, the bystanders said that it was like a demonic presence could be sensed near him. A violent aura that made the bystanders unable to feel anything and move their bodies. A man who happened to be nearby said that the man who, in fact, was a young boy, in the witness's opinion, had an evil glare. It was like staring at the eyes that had a lilac colored surface but it was crimson blooded within. Very descriptive, no doubt. Maybe they're all just madmen around here. Though, who the man was behind this cruel deed, remains to be a mystery._

''A young boy… And… the… eyes... The same as he had back then...'' Chifuyu couldn't keep herself under control anymore. The reminder of that event was just too strong. Clarissa could immediately see what was happening to Chifuyu.

''What's wrong Chifuyu?'' She forgot to add the suffix.

''I-I-I...'' She kept stammering. This only worried Clarissa even more.

''Please.. tell me Chifuyu.'' Clarissa pleaded and looked Chifuyu in the eye. She could see Chifuyu having fear in her eyes. She never expected to see that in her eyes.

''I really don't want to talk about it,'' Chifuyu answered. She knew that she can't be seen like this. This might reveal too much about her. She didn't want her fabled image to be shattered. She had to maintain a facade in front of these people.

''You won't feel any better just keeping your feelings buried.'' Clarissa kept pleading. The worried eyes of Clarissa calmed Chifuyu down.

''I suppose I should tell you why… why this story made me react like this.'' Chifuyu said. A sigh of relief could be heard as well.  
Chifuyu proceeded to tell the story in full detail. She felt that leaving out all the details wouldn't make her feel better so she decided to tell everything. Though, Chifuyu kept wondering if she should have kept some details out as she could see the horrified expression on Clarissa's face.

''That… that... was something unexpected.'' Was the only thing Clarissa could say. She was still quite horrified. A younger brother of Chifuyu acting like that? Unbelievable. Laura would be most interested, though.  
''The way you described… it was like those photos I saw. Only performed… on… actual human bodies this time.'' Clarissa could feel dread spreading in her body just thinking about it.  
Chifuyu only had a sad expression on her face. She hoped deep down that Ichika wasn't behind this. How could he even do it? Just a 10-year-old boy.  
''I must call him. To ask if he's okay. I'm sure Ichika doesn't expect anything unusual. I haven't called him for weeks.'' Chifuyu said. Hearing that Clarissa could only nod in approval.

* * *

**(Ichika's home)**

It was an early morning in Japan. The time of day differed between Germany and Japan, they were so far apart from each other. Because it was the morning, Ichika was doing his morning duties as usual. Ichika was making food for himself like he had done for the past few years in his life as Chifuyu couldn't do it herself. He was a master chief. Maybe it could be his future job if career options were few in the future as the economic situation was quite dire in Japan. If Chifuyu was ever around, she, too, would take the food he'd made with her. It was much better than the food in her workplace. Sadly, she'd not been here for weeks. The delicious smell of the food could be smelled all around the house. Ichika prepared food so he could take them with him and then go to school as he didn't like the school food. Ichika also liked to avoid people at school, especially, at the cafeteria. Most classmates and other pupils were quite annoying in his opinion. Though he did enjoy the company of Dan and Rin. They also brought their own food because both of their families had a family restaurant, so it was only natural for them to just take their own food with them. It was delicious, too, what Ichika could tell. After all, Gotanda and Huang families were professional chefs. Ichika, Dan and Rin had a habit to go to eat outdoor as the atmosphere was much better than in the school building. Ichika planned to take his training equipment with him. The bag that was filled with the said equipment was full of dangerous weapons like his fabled tantō. Ichik was unsure if he should take a firearm with him. It was extremely dangerous. Though secretly carrying a blade with him was against the school rules, it would be more understanding if he had a knife like tantō than an actual dangerous firearm. After all, they were strictly forbidden in Japan, except for certain individuals that have received permission, so, carrying a gun with him would raise a lot of suspicions, such as, where he even got it as it was difficult to even get one. Though Ichika really wanted to carry his new glorious firearm with him, he decided to leave it at home. He would, of course, hide it as best as he could in case someone would break in – like happened a few weeks ago (technically, Ichika opened the door for the first intruder, though).

Ichika was preparing to leave a house as the phone rang.

''Damn, who is it now... My friends don't ever call me during the morning.'' Ichika wondered. He was surprised as he saw Chifuyu's name on his phone's screen. He had not seen it for a long time.

''Yes, Chifuyu-nee?'' Ichika answered his phone with an angelic tone.

''Damn, I really should have prepared for this phone call.'' Chifuyu thought.

''Uhh... I just wanted to ask how you've been doing for the past few weeks, Ichika?'' Chifuyu finally asked.

''I've been doing well, nee-san!'' Ichika exclaimed happily. Chifuyu sighed a relief inside her – it seemed that Ichika was genuine. But she still had to confront him if he had done something evil.

''Well… I saw worrying news about Tokyo this day. I know it's morning there still.'' Chifuyu said.

''Huh? What news?'' Ichika asked.

''There… there was something horrible happening in the crime-infested region of Tokyo. One of the Yakuza building's people were all killed.'' Chifuyu said with a worried tone.

''Well, it is the crime-infested region. So, did the rival organizations finally get violent all of a sudden?'' Ichika asked. He knew what incident Chifuyu meant. Ichika knew well that he shouldn't let her know that he was the true culprit.

''There was no clash between organizations what people found out. A one man managed to kill all the people in the building.'' Chifuyu said. Her tone was even more worried.

''Huh…. That is unusual. Is that why you called me, nee-san?'' Ichika asked.

''Y-yes, kind of. I hope nothing is coming to your way, Ichika.'' Chifuyu said.

''Worry not, onee-san. I will stay safe! It's normal for you to worry because you are my Chifuyu-nee~!'' Ichika said happily, trying to ease the tension that was rising.

''Was that all, nee-san? Otherwise, I hang up.'' Ichika stated.

''W-wait!''

Ichika did not hang up.

''There was one… eerie.. detail. The walls of the building had the following sentence.''

_''Like these humans, I didn't like that gift!''_

Ichika tensed up a bit. However, Chifuyu couldn't notice that because they were having a phone call.

''Let me guess, Chifuyu-nee. That reminded of you something awful that happened… a few months ago, right?'' Ichika said with a confident voice. It was slightly confrontational, too. His innocent tone had disappeared. However, it didn't sound like he was evil or anything.

''Y-y-yes. That birthday incident.'' Chifuyu said with a sad voice.

''I can already guess your true reason for calling me, _Chifuyu_.'' Ichika left out nee-suffix that he usually used. That caught Chifuyu's attention.

''You suspect that I did it, don't you?'' Ichika asked with a confronting tone.

''Y-yes.'' Chifuyu couldn't say anything more than that.

''I did hate those dolls but I wouldn't kill people for some odd reason. That's not like me.'' Ichika said angrily.

''But how then were those sentences so similar to what you said back then, Ichika?'' Now Chifuyu answered with a slightly angry voice.

''Probably someone got a bad gift from their friend or a family member. The news doesn't clarify. Hell, the man might have received a gift that was even worse than I got! At least, you gave me a consolidation gift afterward. This man probably didn't. And who knows, maybe the gift the man is referring to, was something from Yakuza? Probably Yakuza gave him or did something to him that made him tick off.'' Ichika answered.

''Maybe.. you are right,'' Chifuyu said. Ichika had made his argument but she wasn't still convinced.

''Besides, how can I even accomplish such a feat if I just got kidnapped recently because I couldn't defeat two armed opponents?'' Ichika made even more sensible argument than his previous one. This finally convinced Chifuyu not to suspect him.

''I'm sorry, Ichika. Sorry for reminding you about that kidnapping incident. The news was just… It brought bad memories back to my mind. I even acted oddly in front of my trainees and protege.''

''I'm so sorry, Chifuyu-nee. And I know, nee-san. That doll incident… was bad for me, too.''

''Sorry for ruining your morning, little brother,'' Chifuyu said.

''Don't be sorry, nee-san. You didn't ruin anything. I have to go to school, soon.'' Ichika tried to relieve Chifuyu.

''I'm sure we will call… about… happier things than this incident. I have to go now, nee-san. I love you!''

''I love you, too, Ichika.''

* * *

**(Chifuyu's room)**

Chifuyu sighed in huge relief. Her brother wasn't a monster. It would be horrifying if that was the case. Of course, she didn't know the truth – for her sake, it was the best that she did not. Chifuyu was still unhappy, despite Ichika's happy words, that she had confronted him about the incident. It seemed like she didn't trust Ichika – or even love him enough. Chifuyu was saddened that their first phone call in many weeks was about something bad than about something happy like they usually used to talk about.  
Someone knocked Chifuyu's private room's door. Chifuyu got herself together and proceeded to go towards the door.

''Instructor! I am still waiting for your next orders, ma'am.'' Laura said with an enthusiastic tone – though, it sounded more like a brainwashed soldier's voice.  
''Uhh.. yes. Of course. This is your next training schedule for this day and tomorrow.'' Chifuyu said.

''You sure have been advancing rapidly, Bodewig-san.'' She continued.

Laura's face light up as it had been a long time since she had last time heard a compliment from her instructor. It was like giving a dog a snack after it did an impressive trick. Laura went away happily. She seemed like a normal girl at the moment. A girl who was full of joy, like a normal girl her age should be. Too bad that Laura was a very unusual child. Laura went to her next training place like she was eager to play at a playground with her friends. Laura, however, didn't really have any friends, except her Schwarzer Hase (=Black Rabbit) Military Unit that was loyal to her only.

Soon after Laura had left, Chifuyu finally met Clarissa. Clarissa was eager to know about Chifuyu's phone call with Ichika.

''So.. Chifuyu-san… how did it go? Is he.. the culprit?'' Clarissa inquired. She knew that it was very sensitive to ask but her curiosity got the best of her.

''No. He is not. That's it.'' Chifuyu exclaimed. Clarissa was surprised. The story that Chifuyu told shocked Clarissa. She suspected that Ichika might actually be an evil person.

''Really now? The details of your story and the news of today certainly matched together well. I'm sure you noticed that earlier as well.'' Clarissa asked with inquisitive voice.

''Yes. Details are similar. But they were mere coincidences. Maybe some other man had gotten a similar gift to Ichika and got mad. My choice of gift was really bad, I guess.'' Chifuyu said.

''How convenient, Chifuyu-san!'' Clarissa said with a harsh tone.

''Don't you remember how you told me about the glare on his face on that day? His eyes, I meant. They matched the glare as was told in the news.'' Clarissa continued.

Chifuyu froze a bit. She was right. She'd seen Ichika having a glare like that. But she, in fact, managed to counter Clarissa's statement. Chifuyu knew something else about this glare in particular.

''Even if Ichika had a glare similar to that of the news, I wouldn't be surprised,'' Chifuyu said.

''What do you mean, Chifuyu-san? I thought only he had a glare like that.'' Clarissa was confused.

''I've… I've seen it before in my life, actually… I've seen that anger and hatred before in a person's eyes. It's nothing new to me.'' Chifuyu said with a sad tone. It seemed that it brought some bad memories back to her mind. And these were not the memories concerning the incident with Ichika months ago, but another.

''Wh-what do you mean?'' Clarissa asked curiously.

''Those eyes... They are the same as my… my mother's.'' Chifuyu said with a terrified voice.

''Y-your mother?'' Clarissa was surprised. ''But I thought you were abandoned by your parents?''

''Yes, you are right about that. But I knew them for eight years before Ichika was born.''

''Oh yeah, I forgot that,'' Clarissa said. Though it couldn't be heard, a hint of apology could be heard in her voice.

''But why... did they abandon you, then?'' This almost struck a nerve in Chifuyu. Clarissa shouldn't have asked about this.

''I do not want to talk about it. You don't have to know.'' Chifuyu said. A violent aura erupted around Chifuyu. It was much fainter than Ichika's, however. Clarissa immediately noticed her mistake and quickly apologized. The conversation ended abruptly. Chifuyu and Clarissa both walked away from each other to other directions. They wouldn't see each other again during that day. A brief lack of contact would be best for both of them.

''Hmm… What are you really, Ichika-kun?'' Clarissa kept wondering after parting ways with Chifuyu.

''Your… sister… might be in denial about your… true nature.''


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry for not updating this for a long time. I had actually almost finished this chapter a month ago after I published this story but I took a break from this story. Also, writing other stories took time as well.**

**It also took a lot of time to think about the direction I was taking this story.**

**I also changed the summary because I know now what will truly happen in this story. So the old summary was outdated and didn't inform the readers that well.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 3**

* * *

**(The school)**

''Ichika-san… Let me taste your food!'' Rin asked with a shy voice.

''You have tasted this many times. Wouldn't that already bore you?'' Ichika answered.

''Well, yeah. But it's so good! You are an amazing chief!'' Rin said.

''Fine... Take something,'' Ichika said. He was waiting for Rin to take her own chopsticks and take a piece of his food. However, she did not.

''I want… you.. to give _that_ with your own chopsticks.'' Rin said with even shier voice than before.

''What? Why? That's not very sanitary, is it?'' Ichika confronted her. This was odd in his opinion. To feed her.

''Please.. just feed me that piece.. pleaaaase?'' Rin asked with puppy eyes. Even Ichika couldn't deny how adorable it looked. Besides, being exposed to as many bacteria as possible improved his immune system.

''Fine. Only this _on__c__e_, then.'' Ichika proceeded to feed Rin. As she finally ate the piece of food, she moaned happily. It was like she could die there and there as the happiest woman on Earth. Other girls near her exclaimed as they saw Ichika feeding Rin.

''No way! Orimura-kun is feeding Rin-san!'' One of the girls said.

''That.. is.. just like an indirect kiss, right?'' Another said.

''Damn since when there were more people around this place?'' Ichika wondered angrily. He wanted to eat in peace. Dan wasn't currently around. It was pretty boring to be with just Rin. If he had been interested in her like Rin was interested in him, maybe this would've been a wonderful romantic situation, but it wasn't for Ichika. She was just a friend of his, a fellow classmate.

* * *

Ichika and Rin met in sad circumstances. At least, it was sad for Rin. More of an annoyance for Ichika back then.

She was bullied by her fellow classmates. A very frightening situation for a shy girl like Rin. Yes, she was energetic, too, but as a new student, there was always time required until she could adjust. It was normal for any new student. However, she'd been received quite badly. Probably, the reason was her foreign origin. She wasn't Japanese. She was Chinese. There was a distinction between the two. She spoke Japanese very well. A hint of Chinese accent could be heard in Rin's voice but it wasn't any worse than some local dialect of Japanese as they varied as well. Some dialects sounded very odd to a person used to a more standardized version of Japanese, so a slight Chinese accent shouldn't be too bad – after all, Kanji letters and many words were from Chinese.

Regardless of the speaking skills, she was bullied by her classmates. Maybe Rin was just slightly different from others that some bullies could latch onto and bully her. A common tactic for bullies. Her outsider status made her an easy target. Her shyness didn't help her either. When Ichika met Rin, she was surrounded by four male bullies. They were insulting her country of origin and her nationality. Some insulted her parents. Someone insulted her looks. One called a Chink looking girl. An ugly girl. Rin was crying. She wasn't used to such treatment. How could they be so cruel to her? One boy even had the audacity to hit her. Another one said that he will find out where she lives and do horrible things to her and her parents. They were certainly cruel in their words, for their age, that was.

Though Ichika wasn't feeling particularly bad for Rin – he really didn't care about her – he intervened nonetheless. This incident happened only a week after his birthday incident. His powers had emerged that day. However, Ichika didn't know much about his newfound powers and how to control them. They just emerged every now and then when something ticked him off, or just for a random reason. The boys seemed like a nuisance to him. They were blocking his access to the class. He wanted to be there and study in peace. Currently, it wasn't possible as the four annoying boys were before him. Ichika had enough of this situation.

Ichika grabbed the boy was near Rin and punched his face. Good that he only had baby teeth because the boy's front teeth fell off. His mouth was full of blood. The boy cried and immediately left the scene. Three other boys were hesitant. They were not if they should act as the leader of their pathetic group had just left. Despite their fear, they decided to attack Ichika for the sake of their honor. Ichika defeated all of them easily. He inflicted the same fate on two of the boys as he had done to the first boy. The last boy got kicked to this crotch and punched to his nose. He fled crying. It was a glorious scene for Ichika. People were all around him – astonished by his performance. The teacher had not yet arrived. The teacher wouldn't ask about those boys as they didn't belong to this class. Another teacher might confront about it later, though.

Rin just stared at Ichika – her savior. From that day on, she would be interested in her hero. Because she was just on the floor on her knees, Ichika offered his hand to Rin to help her get up. He had not special intentions behind it but Rin saw it as a chivalrous deed alongside his previous deed. Rin pretended in her mind that she was helped by a heroic knight and she was a helpless princess. A trope not commonly acknowledged in the modern world as the women had become the knights – replacing the position the men had once held in the past.

Ever since that incident, Rin kept following Ichika. At first, he was annoyed but she had no annoying presence like other kids so he was eventually content with her being around him. Besides, Dan seemed to also like having her around, so Ichika had no problems with her. As long as she wasn't a nuisance, Rin could be around Ichika. She brought good food with her, much to Ichika's delight. She was certainly eager to share it with Ichika.

* * *

**(The classroom)**

It was another easy day at the class for Ichika. He was the best student in the class, actually the best in the whole school. Yeah, even better than those kids older than him. Hell, probably even the best in the region, which was certainly something. After all, Tokyo had all the star students from across the country. Ichika was a smart boy, indeed. Even Chifuyu wasn't actually that amazing at school. Of course, she did graduate with very good grades but they were not that much needed when she already operated the IS at the age of fourteen. Too bad, the school didn't allow even talented students to progress quickly through the classes. It was a drag for Ichika. Who knows, maybe he could already be close to graduation if he was allowed to progress. Even Tabane Sihonono, who was a super genius in her own right (she invented the Infinite Stratos at the age of fourteen), had to attend middle school normally like Chifuyu. Though, Tabane wasn't that mad because she could be with her best friend Chifuyu. What Ichika knew, Tabane had written a high quality 'doctoral' thesis when she was just five years old. Sadly for her, the university rejected it because of her young age.

To spite the students, the female teacher had put a calculus assignment to solve. It was an asshole move. She really must be a bitter woman. No child their age could even solve that, at least, without any prior knowledge and usually, kids didn't know these mathematical equations until they were older. Ichika knew though. Maybe the woman had put it there to test him. Regardless of her intention, Ichika saw it as a challenge by his teacher. Though it was nothing to Ichika. At least, it was something than the usual mathematical problems that he had to solve, which was, of course, effortless for Ichika.

As soon as the teacher had even written down the equation on the blackboard, Ichika had raised his hand. The teacher was stunned. Ichika had been so quick that the teacher had managed to just take her chalk off the blackboard and Ichika was already there ready with an answer. Of course, just because he had an answer ready and had his hand raised, didn't mean that he had the right answer. The female teacher really thought that Ichika was bluffing or something. He had no calculator or anything. He never used one. His information processing skills were good enough to solve things with his own mind. Even with large numbers, he could solve the equations without any calculator. An impressive feat. Chifuyu had no such ability. The teacher had actually put a few large numbers on the equation since she probably thought that the students who were desperate enough to even solve it, would use a calculator, which was already common to use even among 10-year-old pupils. The teacher allowed Ichika to answer. Unbelievably, he answered correctly. Just like that. The class just stared at him. How could he be correct? Even the teacher had to usually use the calculator just make the solving much more convenient but of course, she knew what were the right steps when solving a calculus equation. But even she couldn't do it with the speed as Ichika could. The teacher was certainly impressed… but a hint of jealousy could be seen on her face. Hopefully, she won't abuse her status as a woman and as a teacher to… drag Ichika down and to squander his potential.

''Heh. This certainly flaunts my ego. They all looked impressed and jealous of me. They don't possess the talent that I have. Even the teacher can't match me. I wonder if I could be the teacher here? It's not like I look like a child in comparison to my classmates. I'm like a head taller than anyone else because of my early puberty. I'm 170 cm tall, and the rest of the boys and girls are between 130 cm – 150 cm tall. Some are a bit taller than that but not even close to my height. Even that woman who's before me is shorter than me. I'm sure that I could be able to keep the class under my control. Maybe I should become a teacher when I'm older. I mean, even Chifuyu is instructing girls in a military facility. Then our careers would be quite similar.''

Ichika kept wondering about his future – it always seemed quite open. He had no idea what he would then. Then again, a 10-year-old wouldn't usually worry about these things. Many children had their future set by their parents. The parents wanted their children to choose this path and that. Some would even guide them. For example, women that still were housewives (not many ever since the IS) tried to help their children at home. These housewives had degrees, too. With those skills acquired from the university, the mothers could help their children to get to a good university and get the career of their parents choosing. However, Ichika had no parents. They abandoned him and Chifuyu when they were young. Chifuyu had not told him what to pursue. Maybe it was for the best. He had to choose his own future. Chifuyu had only made it clear that he must not be a useless man, whatever that was. Ichika had certainly taken those words to heart. He was not pushing around when at home. Ichika did all the chores exemplary, even Chifuyu was just a drag there, but Ichika didn't mind since she had to work always for his and her sake. It was the least he could do for her. Ichika had even planned that he should work so there won't as much strain on Chifuyu. Of course, Ichika had already gotten a job by now but this wasn't what he originally had in mind. Now he had to work in order to gather information about his nemesis. The money that he got from his job certainly helped. Now he didn't even have to ask money from Chifuyu. And the money was more than sufficient to live with. He could even by more extravagant stuff but he didn't care about such things. Ichika only wanted power. In his mind, money didn't give him any power. Sure, you could 'bribe' people and buy influence with it. But Ichika had to rely on his own strength in order to defeat his enemies. Relying on the strength that is his own is the true kind of strength. To gain that Ichika needed to train as relentlessly as he could. The math lesson was the final lesson of the day. After that Ichika could finally go to train his fighting skills. Despite acquiring a lethal firearm, relying on it too much might hamper his strength. If he relied too much on it, without it Ichika would be helpless. And that is not strength. His true strength is his mind and will… and the strength of his arms. And with the strong arms of his, Ichika could use his blades better. With unrivaled speed and strength behind the blows of his blades, he could defeat Alicia.

''I bet she relies on her IS too much. Maybe all of them do. Maybe even Chifuyu. After all, she'd used it for four years constantly. What room was there for... true development of one's strength? If I strip her off her IS, does she have any strength left? Does this apply to both Chifuyu and Alicia? I, indeed, wonder.''

The math lesson continued. Ichika was only paying attention to his own thoughts. Not to the stuff that the teacher was teaching him in front of the class.

''All the women I encounter, they flaunt their ego. They brag about a machine, the IS. Even those women without an IS still brag about their 'strength'. Without the machine they have nothing. Especially those IS pilots. Have they at least developed their mental strength? Who knows what the future will hand to them when the true war escalates. After all, they say women are quite susceptible to getting a mental strain in battle. Men can get one, too, since they used to spend more time in the battlefield than women. But what I know, the women can get a PTSD much more easily than men. The true strength of women remains to be seen. This Mondo Grosso has been a facade so far. No lethal things happen there since the IS shields from all lethal damage. Pathetic. They might become stronger in the face of death. Who wants to play Olympics with a death machine? Was that Tabane's wish about her glorious invention? She is a crazy and eccentric woman, what I know. Chifuyu says the same things, too. Tabane might have a surprise to show us. I wonder what it might really be.''

Ichika had quickly left the class and then the school building. He was so fast in his movements that Rin didn't even have time to catch up to him and say goodbye to him. Actually, she seemed very desperate to talk with him but Ichika had already disappeared from her sight. Just like that. Ichika had more important things to attend to than a boring conversation with Rin. It was more fun for her than for him anyways.

Ichika had figured out that practicing against dummies was not very useful. After all, they were stationary targets and didn't try to block his attacks or try to attack him. He couldn't hone his sword-fighting skills with just dummies. He couldn't practice parrying, blocking, counterattacking or other offensive forms. It was really bad. He could only learn how to do precise strikes with his blades. That was certainly something. Accuracy was a key to victory when it came to sword fighting but he had to practice more complicated maneuvers. He couldn't practice how to move his body alongside his sword. He needed a moving target – a living target – in order to achieve that. Fortunately, there were fighting clubs in Japan. Even after the revelation of the Infinite Stratos, not all people abandoned the traditional fighting forms. Perhaps, the people kept practicing the old styles of fighting for the sake of tradition, who knows, but it was a great boon for Ichika. If there had not been any budō clubs, he could not train well – and his plans would be doomed. Ichika was sure that he would be accepted as a member of some dojo. It wasn't like there was any rush of new members to these old budō clubs. Ever since the IS, their popularity has dramatically decreased, especially, among the female trainees. Why should they train if there was this unstoppable killing robot that could help them? These women and some men have completely missed the point. The purpose of these budō styles wasn't to make people literal killing machines. Of course, Ichika was planning to use his skills in a lethal way. The true purpose of these styles was the improve oneself. The attain growth both physically and mentally. These have certainly had that effect on Ichika. For a 10-year-old boy, he was mature, even if Ichika has neglected some of the core principles. Like refraining from the use of violence.

There were multiple budō styles. Some of them were hand-to-hand combat intended only for self-defense. The most popular budō styles were of like these, for example, judo. Combat styles for just self-defense. Not Ichika's kind of fighting. He was always on the offensive. Ichika wanted to know styles to be able to actually fight with a sword. To kill his opponents with the most efficiency and skill. Like he had to those Yakuza people. How glorious it was in Ichika's opinion. He was quite disappointed afterward – not because Chifuyu had heard about it – but he'd relied on the gun too much. Ichika would've been proud had he killed those people with only his tantō or katana.

Ichika was sometimes wondering if he should change his sword. Katana was a good sword, though, contrary to popular belief Europeans swords were as good or even better. One good thing that made European swords amazing was their versatility. There are so many variables regarding the European swords. First of all, there are so many of them that to individually compare them to katana was useless. But it was definitely certain that there load of swords that were actually superior to katana. Katana has always been surrounded by its fame because of the popular culture. The Katana only had one core design, which was its most distinctive feature – its shape. But European swords had all kinds of shapes and designs. There were certainly designs that outmatched the katana. Too bad for Ichika that he had no way to get his hands on any European sword. Perhaps, someday he could but for now, he had to be content with his katana. But at least, the budō styles – the ones he intended to practice – were mainly suited for katana. The practice sword – bokken – was essentially the wooden version of katana. The one that Houki Shinonono carried all the time. It was clear for Ichika that he should practice kenjutsu – the budō style that focused on swordsmanship. However, there was a kenjutsu club quite close to him. There was also a kendo club. Ichika decided not to join it. He'd had it with kendo. Ichika had practiced during his youth. Just last year ago with Houki. He was good enough with it. Ichika wanted to know more styles. Yes, kendo was developed from kenjutsu but they were still very different, so, learning kenjutsu was much more beneficial to Ichika than just returning to training kendo. Now he didn't have wear that stupid kendo armor, either. He wanted to fight in blood and flesh without any armor since he had to confront Alicia Josestof without armor as well.

He quickly reached the place where the kenjutsu club was located at. Conveniently, it was quite close to Ichika's school. Going there after school was going to easy. He didn't want to waste any minute or hour in a day. He had to dedicate it all to his training. And to his job. Ichika wondered if they even accepted children as members but then again, he was allowed to practice kendo when he was six years old. Maybe he had to pull that _being related to Orimura Chifuyu_ card again. Since there were quite many kenjutsu practitioners, there might be opponents that would be challenging enough to fight and would improve Ichika's fighting skills. Either way, just fighting some opponents and practicing his forms was good enough. He had to not let them rust in any way.

**(Kenjutsu club)**

Joining the club was much easier than Ichika expected. Well, the last time he joined the club was even easier, actually. Since the kendo club back then was owned by the Shinonono family, just being friends with the Shinononos made it easy for him to gain the membership. But since there were no friends whose strings he could just pull, Ichika thought that the process would at least somewhat difficult. Well, for his relief, it wasn't. Ichika just asked one of the trainers if he could join. The man was quite surprised that a boy his age, even if Ichika looked older, had asked for membership. Then again, memberships were becoming after every year. Perhaps, his willingness to join surprised the man because there were not any recent recruits. All were pretty experienced kenjutsu practitioners at this point. Good for Ichika, though. He wanted a challenge. The more difficult, the better. The only challenge could cause any growth in a man. The modern environment had certainly softened many people. He didn't want the same fate as the pathetic modern humans. The man agreed to accept Ichika as a new member if he could test Ichika's skills. Usually, the skills of a newcomer were not tested. That was obvious because many had never held a sword in their hand. So, testing them to try to see their already existing skills were usually useless. But Ichika had already managed to flaunt about his swordsmanship. He liked to brag. The man noticed his bragging and had asked if he could show them their skills. Ichika had asked – they probably took it as a joke – that if he should hold back or anything. The others said that he could show it all without holding back.

''I want you five as my opponents. You look inexperienced enough but your numbers might compensate for it.'' The men who heard his statement got a bit angry. Ichika had the nerve to say that they looked inexperienced. They, of course, agreed to fight him. Ichika's taunt worked. The trainer just looked at Ichika as if he was mad. Well, it was quite mad, to be honest. Fighting against five opponents? Very unusual in this dojo, for sure. It wasn't like kenjutsu was for fighting multiple opponents. Regardless, Ichika wanted to test the extent of his skills. He hoped that this fight wouldn't be disappointing.

Ichika readied for the fight and took the stance. The opponents did the same. Their slightly angry eyes stared at Ichika. He was amused by this. It was not like that statement was _that_ insulting. They looked at Ichika and signaled with their eyes that they were going to beat him. This only brought him more resolve. It seemed that they were willing to fight him with all their might. Ichika did not wait for them to attack. He wanted to do the starting move. This surprised the men. They thought that he would be on the defensive. After all, he was in a disadvantageous position. Ichika managed to swing at the man who was on the front but expectedly he blocked the attack. Ichika noticed as two men from both of his sides tried to attack him. He stepped backward and dodged both of the blows coming from both directions. That was easy. The others behind the first man had not yet fought Ichika but they tried to encircle Ichika with the help of the rest of the men. With five men, it would be pretty easy to encircle one opponent. Ichika knew that he had to not let it happen. Even with great powers, fighting while encircled without getting hit was virtually impossible. Ichika fought the men individually. Trying to divide them. Ichika separated one opponent from the group and fought it separately. Essentially, divide and conquer – or defeat in detail. Ichika had to take into consideration the other opponents around him as he fought a single opponent. Ichika achieved this by retreating from his five opponents by running in circles so to speak. So, he was on the defensive currently, but, of course, there was a catch. Because he was moving fast, others had to try to catch him. But because of this, the five opponents separated and were quite far from each other. As they were far from each other, Ichika would then strike the isolated opponent. Ichika could see how poor was the individual fighting skill of a single man of this five-man group. Pretty disappointing in Ichika's opinion. It seemed that he was right about them being inexperienced fighters. Isolating one opponent from the group was certainly a good tactic. He already defeated two of the five opponents by now. But Ichika's opponents weren't stupid. As they saw how their two comrades had been defeated, they decided to keep together, concentrate their force and fight as a cohesive unit. They finally realized the tactic that Ichika had used. It took them some time but at least they now realized it. However, there were no proper tactics on how to coordinate their movements together, even to defeat a single opponent – at least, that was what they haven't been taught yet. The trainer certainly looked impressed. Defeating two opponents was an amazing feat but doing it while fighting against three others as well as even more amazing. The three remaining men charged at Ichika. He was dumbfounded of their tactic. He simply decided to retreat and dodge their blows. Although they fought close together, the lack of their tactical knowledge was clearly shown. But to their credit, Ichika could no longer isolate them – at least, not yet. Ichika dodged the blows easily – he was very fast in dodging. Ichika could only wonder briefly what went wrong a few weeks ago against those two female kidnappers. It even seemed as Ichika realized recently, that the women had… held back against Ichika. A blow nearly hit Ichika because of his brief daydream. ''Damn, focus Ichika, focus!'' Ichika thought angrily. He had let his guard down in a battle. Not very smart. Ichika noticed a pattern of how men moved as they fought. The three men fight side by side but as they tried to land a blow on Ichika, one of the men had to go slightly forward – slightly away from the two other men – in order to strike Ichika. It was the turn of the man on the left. He, as Ichika had deduced, slightly stepped forward so he could strike Ichika. Ichika quickly dodged and did a counterattack. The man didn't expect this and got easily hit. Now there only remained two. The duel would now be much easier for Ichika. Two men were nothing to him, well, except those two women from the past. Quite an audience had gathered around Ichika and his opponents. There were people from all ages and sexes looking at Ichika in fascination. Of course, he was the main attraction since he was the bold boy who had decided to fight against five opponents. To everyone's surprise, he was leading. Only two remaining. Even the audience was having doubts if those two men would manage to defeat Ichika. Since the audience was so large, it emboldened Ichika. He wanted to show off. So, now he would show the true extent of his skills. Until this point, the duel had been pretty easy for Ichika. Isolating the opponents from each other was no big deal – or trying to dodge multiple blows from many directions – it was easy for him too. Ichika could see that the last remaining men were at least somewhat more skillful than the other three. Ichika had engaged the two men for quite some time now. Ichika decided to finish it now – to quit playing around. He liked to toy with his prey as he did to Houki as they practiced together. The girl would always lose her cool and make an easy mistake. A grave error for any duelist. Ichika started to pretty weird maneuvers with his sword and body. Jumping around and doing flips and simultaneously swinging his sword at his opponents. The two men were confused because Ichika was, in their own perspective, like flying over them and striking at them from the above. It was unnatural for them. The audience gasped. They had never seen such a display of swordsmanship. Probably, nobody had ever seen this kind of performance in this club. Ichika's odd maneuvers did the trick on his opponents. He easily outmaneuvered the other opponent and struck him on the head. As the final man was standing in front of Ichika, Ichika charged at the man and made an amazing flurry of attacks. Though he managed to dodge and block the initial blows, the flurry of strikes was just too much for the man and Ichika finally managed to defeat his final opponent. The audience applauded him. The performance had been glorious. Nothing that they'd never seen.

''Damn, how did he learn those moves?''

''Wow, he is so amazing! He's probably better than some of the professionals!''

''Is he joining our club? Nice!''

''Hehe. He looks cute, too!''

Ichika reveled in the praise he received from the dozens of people around him. It seemed that the club was much larger than he had thought at first. Either way, he had achieved victory and it was glorious.

Ichika still had energy left as the duel only took a few minutes. It was a short duel, in fact. It was certainly embarrassing for the five men to be defeated so quickly. Ichika wondered if there were any skilled opponents to fight against. It was clear that these five men were inexperienced.

''Maybe the trainer will be a match for me. He was certainly impressed by my display of power. I wonder if he would fight against me someday.''

Ichika asked for private tutoring from the man who acted as the trainer of many pupils in this dojo. Because he was so impressed, the man agreed to tutor Ichika. The trainer's name was Saito Musashi. What Ichika could hear, the man's first name, Musashi, was an accurate description of the tutor. If that was the case, it meant that the tutor had the skills of the legendary samurai, Miyamoto Musashi. Ichika found this hard to believe. Probably, it was just a huge compliment to the man's skills.

''Orimura Ichika, is your name, right?''

''Yes. And yes, I'm related to Orimura Chifuyu. I'm not telling any details about our family relationship, okay?'' Musashi was slightly surprised as Ichika confirmed his suspicions but the man could only nod to Ichika's answer. He didn't want to make a ruckus – he could see that Ichika didn't want any of that.

''Your earlier performance was certainly… amazing. I can't put it in other words.''

''Compliment accepted. But I'm not satisfied with myself, yet. I want to go further than that. To reach my full potential. To utilize my strength to its fullest.'' Ichika brimmed with confidence in his own words. Musashi was glad that Ichika didn't brag as he'd done earlier. Arrogance was a downfall for many, even for the greatest warriors.

''At the end… You showed the best that you could do, correct?'' Musashi inquired.

''Yes. I stopped playing around and decided to show it all.'' Ichika answered.

''Hmm… If that was your best, then you definitely have much more to learn than you realized.'' Ichika's face turned into a frown for a moment. Musashi slightly grinned as he saw Ichika's frown.

''Can you help me get stronger than this?'' That was the only thing Ichika could say.

''I can.''

''You show a lot of promise.''

**(Training session)**

Ichika and Musashi had trained for hours. Many of the onlookers couldn't focus on their own training as the mock battles and training by Ichika and Musashi was too distracting. Their spars looked amazing. These easily rivaled the performance Ichika had shown earlier to the whole club. But a spar between the student and the master was even more impressive.

''Your flurry is certainly impressive! You can strike blows much faster than any other trainee. But it isn't enough!'' Musashi taunted.

Ichika's expression turned to anger slightly, then back to normal. Ichika knew that he had to keep a calm demeanor. Losing his cool, like Houki always did, could be fatal in a real combat scenario and result in an embarrassing defeat if he lost it here against Musashi.

''TRAINEES! Focus on your own training! IGNORE US!'' Musashi shouted at the trainees who became frightened because of his sudden outburst. The trainees immediately continued training as Musashi had furiously asked them.

''It seems that your name… Saito-sensei… certainly has some truth to it.'' Musashi smirked at Ichika's statement.

Because the training had gone so long, even Ichika was starting to feel fatigued. The feeling of exhaustion somehow felt exhilarating, too. It had been a long time since he had trained to such an exhausting degree. Eventually, after performing many attacks with his swords and movements with his body, Ichika started to tire. Musashi then struck at Ichika. He hadn't shown any fatigue. Ichika decided to just yield as he couldn't keep on fighting any longer.

''You certainly did last long in a fight,'' Musashi said. ''For the longest, I've encountered so far, in fact.''

''But as you can see. You're a long way from being able to defeat me.''

Ichika only glared at Musashi.

''Yeah… It's been a while since I've had a challenging fight myself.'' Ichika said.

''Sadly, the last time I fought seriously, I was defeated – though not badly beaten – and it had serious consequences.''

''Well then. We shall see that your next fight in a serious circumstance _won't_ end in defeat.''

Ichika could only smile in satisfaction at the mentor's answer.

''Well, today's training is concluded. I'm sure you come again tomorrow. You did well, though, for a boy of your age.'

''Yeah, I get told that a lot since I'm ten years old.''

''What, ten years old? You look much older than that.'' Confusion on Musashi's face amused Ichika. He did not expect to see an expression like that on his mentor's face.

''Heard that too many times. The reason is early puberty.'' Ichika explained.

''I see, well, I won't hold you any longer, then. See you tomorrow!'' Musashi smiled.

The training had been rough on Ichika today. But it was something he required in order to become stronger. No strength is acquired without sacrifice. And Ichika was willing to make… many sacrifices. However, the training had not been too tough so he was still able to go to work and massage his clients. He'd been looking for that. Ichika was already hoping that he could acquire some vital information about his nemesis from Alicia herself. Ichika quickly packed his belongings and exited. Then he was going to run to the massage parlor. Ichika had stayed here for too long as he saw the clock showing the time. Ichika couldn't afford to be late so he had to move swiftly.

**(Another workday begins)**

Yesterday Ichika had heard by eavesdropping one of his boss's calls that Alicia Josestof had scheduled a massage session. And much to Ichika's delight, Alicia specifically asked Ichika to massage her.

''Maybe she's softening up to me. It's not like she would fall for me because I'm so young and we only met once. But love in first sight is not impossible, right? Maybe she already has. Hmph. I can't be that deluded about myself. Only Rin and Houki have fallen in love with me what I know of. But they are not very interesting girls, in my opinion. I know that I'm interested in girls, what I know of… but… but why don't I care about any girl who is my age or those who are slightly younger or older than me? Regardless, it's a good thing that she chose me as her masseur and not some other employee. Not that they couldn't do their job properly but I need her as my client.''

It seemed, as Ichika was running with amazing speed towards the massage parlor, that he had no fatigue at all from the training he'd just finished a few minutes ago.

''Being late during my second workday wouldn't seem very good! I must hurry!''

Ichika was nearing the block where the parlor was located. Like he had done yesterday, Ichika dodged the cars and jaywalked in order to get to the massage parlor.

''Huh… Huh… Finally here… Now I have to get inside and then quickly prepare for the massage session.''

''You were almost late, Orimura-kun,'' Fumi said with a smirk on her face. She was already prepared for berating Ichika if he arrived late.

''I am aware of that. My kenjutsu training… was prolonged, so to speak. Won't happen again, though.''

''Kenjutsu, eh? Anyways, you did not arrive late, so, you have nothing to worry about.'' Fumi gave him a radiant smile.

''Y-yes, you are right. Off to work then.'' Ichika quickly went to a changing room. He didn't look very presentable as he had just run from the kenjutsu training place to the massage parlor. His hair was quite messy, though it didn't look that bad. Ichika decided to comb it and then proceeded to wash his face. Because he was a boy with puberty, his sweat started to smell. This was not good since who would want a smelly man to massage them? But Ichika had foreseen this. He'd brought his deodorant with him. Ichika had already been covered in sweat when he trained with Musashi. The man was a bit sweaty and smelled very awful. It seemed that the grown man didn't even bother to use any scent covering products. Maybe he was training all the time so the use of any deodorants was redundant. Or maybe he didn't give a crap if he smelled and people would faint around him. That was one way to defeat an enemy. Ichika quickly covered the awful scent with his deodorant and finally exited the changing room. There were no other employees in the changing room currently as they were ready when Ichika arrived. At least, he didn't have to be half-naked in front of his female coworkers.

**(Another massage session with Alicia)**

It was the same room where the massage session would be held. It seemed that Alicia preferred to use this room. It was no wonder since it was close to the entrance of the parlor. Fast to get in and out. Fumi had once stated that it was like Alicia was living there partly since she was the person who used this massage room the most. Apparently, she sometimes came to this place even twice the day. Too bad for Ichika that the other time, when Alicia attended, was during the morning. Ichika couldn't do it to Alicia then since he was at school unless it was a weekend. But Ichika preferred not to be here during the weekends because he wanted to train during that time. Ichika had decided that he should even spend his weekend training – not relaxing. It was certainly a great sacrifice since he couldn't be with his friends, especially with Dan, anymore.

''I thought you would have come earlier but this time is just fine as well,'' Alicia stated. It was the first time he'd heard her voice close. Although she was from Italy, Alicia spoke almost perfect Japanese. There was some Italian accent that Ichika could here. For example, the stress on the syllables sounded sometimes a bit different but that wasn't a big deal for Ichika or for anyone else really. Her voice was soft and soothing. Chifuyu's voice wasn't like that since her voice was always tense. She after all, always had a strict demeanor but it did not bother Ichika like it did some people. He was used to it. Alicia's voice was also somewhat sensitive, to put it in those words. Ichika could only deduce that she might be stressed if her voice sounded a bit like that. But then again she was here to alleviate stress. Otherwise, the massage would be pretty pointless.

''Yeah, I had something that kept me busy before I came here but now I am here,'' Ichika answered with a serious tone. Although Ichika usually kept his demeanor normal around women, now that he had higher stakes when interacting with Alicia, Ichika was a bit more tense around her.

''Huh. Your voice… and demeanor reminds me of someone. You… resemble _her_ a lot. Your physical appearance is also a giveaway.'' As Alicia said this, Ichika knew immediately what she meant. He reminded her of Chifuyu. Ichika was starting to wonder if that was a bad or a good thing. Being reminded of one's enemy never made anyone relaxed, which would ruin the mood of this massage. Also, if Alicia knew that Ichika had a connection to her enemy, would it ruin his plans forever? Could he catch her off-guard? Ichika was soon certain that he was able to catch her off-guard even if she knew his true identity. If Ichika attacked Alicia, let's say, during the night and at her house, how could Alicia even anticipate such an attack? Especially, an attack by a young boy, even by the brother of the Brunhilde? And besides, if Ichika kept being a good masseur, maybe his true identity wouldn't be a deterrent to her. After considering these things, Ichika decided to be frank with Alicia.

''Orimura… Chifuyu, you mean to say, right? You are right to be reminded by her… since I am, after all, her little brother.'' Still, a serious tone could be heard in Ichika's voice. It only furthered confirmed Alicia's suspicions since resemblance was undeniable.

''Hmph. Why do you even work here, then?'' Alicia confronted Ichika.

''I-I don't want to be a burden to my onee-san. She has looked after me for so long. I want to do things myself this time… Ever since… her defeat few weeks ago.'' Ichika answered. His voice was… a bit sad, if it could be described as so. The mood in the room started to become sadder and sadder, which was unpleasant for Ichika. His plan was to get closer to her, not away from her. Maybe it was a mistake to reveal his true identity. Using the name ''Ichika-kun'' would've been just fine. But then again, Alicia might found it anyway if Fumi-san happened to just call him ''Orimura-kun'', which would arouse Alicia's suspicions about her masseur.

''I...I see. We should just get this session over with, shall we?'' Alicia broke the awkward atmosphere, much to Ichika's relief.

''The same as yesterday, correct?'' Ichika asked.

''Yes, that would be nice.'' A smile was on Alicia's face. This emboldened Ichika as he could see that Alicia has been waiting for this. Getting close to her might just be easier than Ichika had expected. Ichika then proceeded to massage Alicia the same way he'd done the day before.

''Uuu~! You're so good at this… Ichi...ka~.'' It was the first time Alicia had moaned… this sensually. Ichika felt a bit tense because of her response. It seemed that Ichika was finally becoming more and more conscious of the body of the opposite sex. Of course, this was to be expected as he was already in puberty. Although her response made him feel a bit awkward, it soon made Ichika only even more emboldened. He wanted to hear Alicia moan even more. It was so pleasant to listen to. Ichika decided to be even rougher with her. Due to his experience, Ichika knew that women's responses during the massages were more erotic if he was rougher with his hands.

''AAAH~~! You're… so… rough all of a sudden… please… DON'T STOP!'' Ichika could only smirk at her reaction. Ichika decided to continue the treatment.

As Alicia continued screaming loudly because of Ichika's prowess, Ichika could soon here footsteps behind the room's door. He could hear giggling, too.

''Damn. Are those women eavesdropping?'' Ichika wondered.

''Fufufu. I wonder what Ichika's doing!''

''Alicia's getting quite the treatment!''

''Maybe he's finally doing it with her! Hehehe!''

''Perhaps he might do that to us too!''

''Fufufu! I can't wait for some of _that_!''

Women's giggling just got louder and louder until Fumi showed up and ordered them to go back to their seats and keep their mouth shut.

''Finally, I can massage her in peace.'' Ichika was relieved.

''Y-you should massage the front part, too,'' Alicia said.

''Alright. But don't try anything as Misa-san did!'' Ichika ordered.

''N-n-no. I'm not a pervert like her...'' Alicia managed to say with a blush on her face.

Ichika watched at the wall as Alicia was changing her position. She put something to cover her breasts with a small towel. When she was ready to continue the massage, Ichika then proceeded to massage her abs.

Like all IS users, she had amazing abs. What Ichika could know, the physical training was part of the IS training. While her stomach abs were impressive, they weren't like of which Ichika had seen on men. Although only women used Infinite Stratos, they were still physically frail compared to men. But… what difference did it make in battle when someone is wearing a battle suit, and the other was not.

Alicia continued moaning even more than previously as these parts of her body hadn't been massaged yet. Not even yesterday. Ichika was pleased to see her moan more and more as he became even rougher with his handling. Truth be told, he never even did this with Chifuyu. Ichika decided to go lower. Ichika was still far from her genital parts and that was covered by a towel. Alicia seemed to be enjoying it nonetheless. Ichika decided to be rougher as the past experiences had shown that it brought the most satisfaction. As Ichika was handling her lower parts roughly and continued going even lower, Ichika received a reaction he'd never expected to see.

''AAAAHHHHH!~~'' Alicia screamed loudly as she climaxed. Ichika first thought he'd done something wrong as usually screaming meant pain… but he soon somewhat realized that he'd given her great _pleasure_.

Her scream had been so loud that the women outside could hear it. A loud conversation soon erupted outside the massage room. They all sounded excited and kept wondering what had happened. The women certainly knew that it was an orgasm.

Alicia kept watching at Ichika with a huge blush on her face. Actually, she was completely red. She hadn't experienced such a thing either.

Ichika quickly sensed that the atmosphere was becoming too awkward for both's liking, so he decided to go bold, which usually was the opposite thing to do in this situation. Nonetheless, Ichika went with the gut.

Ichika continued the massage. He went bold and massaged the same area that had brought a climax to Alicia earlier. Alicia was surprised how Ichika decided to handle the situation but she did not resist. She yelped quietly as Ichika moved his hands to her lower parts.

As Ichika was roughly massaging the lower parts of her body, again Alicia's moans were becoming louder and louder. Keenly observing her reactions, Ichika suspected that another climax was coming. And he was right.

''Aaah… AAAAAAHHH!~'' She screamed once again. Her breathing was heavy and she was panting. Ichika continued to massage her.

Ichika pressed her parts even harder as he was emboldened by her sensual reactions although he didn't exactly know of the sexual implications of his deeds.

Ichika kept massaging her sensitive parts and Alicia's reactions were all the same. Screaming and moaning in pleasure all the time.

Again.

Again.

And again.

The women outside were going nuts as they heard Alicia screaming in pleasure continuously. The ones who were scheduled to be Ichika's clients were the most excited. Of course, they wanted the same treatment Ichika had given to Alicia.

''Her screams are much different to those I've used to hearing. I heard all kinds of screams in that Yakuza building. But her screams are… most pleasant to listen to. I want to hear them over and over again.''

Ichika wasn't sure why he wanted to massage her and see her react like _that_ all the time but he just wanted to continue doing that to her.

Ichika didn't notice when he was massaging Alicia that his hand going to reach the part of her body that he wasn't supposed to touch.

''Wait, what is this… spot?'' Ichika's hand was already under the towel that was covering Alicia's crotch.

''This is… somewhat… moist… and...''

''Aahh..~'' A sensual moan came out of Alicia's mouth as his fingers moved to this spot. Ichika looked at Alicia and could see her blushing heavily.

''I-Ichika… Could you… take your hand away from _that spot_?'' Alicia asked because she was the one that knew what spot Ichika was touching. Ichika complied.

The towel that covered Alicia's crotch had moved away from the lower part of her body and it started to reveal her genitals. Ichika blushed heavily as he saw the _thing_ that even Ichika knew he shouldn't see. Ichika quickly covered the part by fixing the position of the towel.

''I-I think this has been enough, don't you think?'' Ichika said. Indeed, they had spent some time in this room and it was soon time for him to massage the other clients.

Alicia could only nod to Ichika's statement. Alicia proceeded to put her clothes back on and Ichika exited the room.

When Ichika had exited the room, the crowd of women was before him.

''Umm… What are you all waiting in front of me?'' Ichika simply asked.

''Fufufu. You did something indecent to her? Right? Right?'' One woman asked.

''Whatever you did to her. Do that to me as well!'' Another said enthusiastically.

Ichika was too uninterested to answer the multiple questions of these women because this kind of thing almost always happened after he massaged a woman.

''Now it's the turn of the next client.''

''It was… Natasha Fairs, wasn't it?''

''Y-YEEES! That's me! I'm all ready for you~.'' Natasha said enthusiastically.

''Oh boy, she will definitely demand the same treatment I gave to Alicia, won't she?'' Ichika thought as he was following her to the other massage room.

''Hold on.'' Ichika suddenly realized.

''Damn it! Damn it! I was supposed to ask questions from Alicia about her stay here in Japan and how long she will be here etc.'' Ichika mentally facepalmed as he realized about his failure. The lost time couldn't be gotten back after all. He had to find a new solution quick.

''At least, we did bond in some way, I guess. I gave her a good time and I'm sure she'll ask for another time. And then I will ask Alicia details about her life.'' Ichika tried to see a silver lining in this situation.

''Ichika-kun, you better give me some good time like you'd given to Alicia today and yesterday! She'd told me all about it!'' Natasha blurted happily.

''Wait. She knows Alicia _personally_? I guess I can ask her details about Alicia. Casually, of course. First, I ask about Natasha's life as an IS pilot and her stay here in Japan. _It seems she's not from here either. What I know, she's probably an American._ Then, I move the conversation to include Alicia's life as well. Yes… they will tie together nicely since Alicia and Natasha must be friends with each other. It seems this next massage session will be much better than I thought.''

Ichika was close to entering the massage room where Natasha was already waiting when he watched to his right and saw Alicia exiting the massage room where the massage had just taken place. Alicia's eyes met Ichika's. Alicia soon blushed and quickly turned her head away from his and continued walking towards the reception and the exit.

''She certainly liked it,'' Ichika smirked.

* * *

**(A massage session with Natasha)**

Although Ichika had performed many massages with countless women by now, he could sense that this session would be as interesting as was the previous one with Alicia. Ichika had a feeling that Natasha had the same level of courage as Misa had. However, Fumi-san had made it clear to every woman in this parlor that pervy things with Ichika were not allowed, much to their disappointment.

''Aaahh~. I can't believe your sister gets this treatment every night!'' Natasha said while Ichika was massaging her.

''She's not really around much. It's been months since I've massaged her.''

''Then she's really missing out a lot! I can't believe her own _brother_ massages her like this!'' Natasha started giggling. Ichika had no clue about the true meaning of her words.

Ichika was now unsure how he should proceed with the massage.

''Should I just keep massaging her as I did to Alicia? If I do that for a while, I might get closer to her. At least that's what happened with Alicia. But I should talk with her at some point… Because if I massage her for too long the same thing that happened with Alicia might happen again. Maybe I just should engage in small talk.''

Ichika, though, didn't have a clue how to naturally start a conversation with Natasha. Especially, to lead the conversation to a direction where he could find information about Alicia.

Ichika, then, decided to ask about her job. It was only natural. Being an IS pilot was probably the most defining characteristic of Natasha Fairs what Ichika could know.

''Natasha, I have a question...'' Ichika managed to hide his nervousness.

''Ask away, Orimura-kun.'' She said in an upbeat voice.

So far, the start of the conversation had no issues.

''Tell me… what is it like to be an IS user?''

''Eh? I would've assumed the brother of the Brunhilde knew thing or two about being an IS pilot,'' Natasha was confused, rightfully so.

''Well… Like I said previously. Chifuyu is never around. I just know she is an IS user. Nothing more than that.'' Ichika answered.

Ichika was becoming a bit gloomy when he thought that he never really saw his sister. If this kept continuing, they might become irreparably separated from each other – or at least the emotional connection might become severed.

''Oh… well… Busy days training alone or with a partner… like with Alicia...'' She answered.

''…And sometimes doing deals with corporations or national governments. That's the most boring part in my opinion.''

''Why are there many IS users here in Japan? And not in their own countries?'' Ichika kept asking.

''Well, I'm sure you know that it's a well-established fact that Japan is the hub of IS activity. But sure even I have to occasionally go back to the country we represent like me and Alicia, from the USA and Italy.''

''When do you have to go back or are you just staying for a long time?''

''There is still the whole year left until I have to leave. Not sure about Alicia, though.''

Ichika raised an eyebrow. This was not good. He wanted a precise time when Alicia might leave Japan.

''I have a feeling that Alicia might stay here longer than I will. I doubt she wants to go back to her homeland anytime soon.'' Natasha made nervous laughter.

''Does she know something bad about Alicia?'' Ichika asked himself.

''But it's a good thing that she will be in Japan for a long time. A boon for my plans.''

''Are you going to still massage?'' Natasha asked interrupting Ichika's thoughts.

''Uh… yeah.''

''I better reward her even if she doesn't know the reason why,'' Ichika smirked.

Knowing how Alicia had reacted, Ichika knew exactly what to do to Natasha.

''Say, Natasha… Do you want to know why… Alicia... screamed earlier…?''

''W-wait…?'' Natasha blushed heavily.

Ichika acted quickly confidently knowing what had to be done to 'pleasure' a woman.

He placed his hand on her abdomen. Then he kept moving his hand towards her crotch while massaging the area and causing Natasha to moan in pleasure.

Next, it was time for the real deal.

Ichika moved hand near her genitalia just enough not to touch her sensitive area, which would otherwise cause complications. Ichika massaged her crotch profusely.

''AAAAHHH! Keep going, Ichika~~~!'' Natasha moaned.

The women once again were gathering near the door eavesdropping the massage session.

Emboldened and somewhat experienced Ichika kept massaging her rougher.

''AAAAAHHH!'' She was now panting heavily.

Ichika was not sure what kind of effect this had on the women. Did it fuel them or tire them out?

''Uuuh~, if you keep going, Ichika, I might become unconscious.''

''Is that a good or a bad thing, Natasha?''

''Uhh...'' Natasha was still flustered.

Ichika continued to massage even rougher than ever before. He had no idea what exactly Natasha was feeling but it seemed that she was nearing her limit.

''AAAAAAAHH!'' She screamed in pleasure.

Natasha covered her mouth with her palm and she was completely embarrassed about what she just did.

Ichika smirked, seemingly pleased with himself when he looked at the sight of Natasha being completely exhausted because of his massage.

''I have a feeling that all women will demand this sooner or later.'' Ichika thought.

''I...Ichika… do you do this to your sister, too?''

''What's up with these women wanting to know about me massaging my onee-san?'' Ichika was slightly confused because of her question.

''You mean… the thing I did to you…?'' Ichika asked.

''Y-yeah...'' Her face was still as red as a tomato.

''No, I learned to do that with Alicia in the previous massage session.''

''Oh...'' She simply muttered.

The massage session had ended, but for Ichika the day had just begun. And just behind the door of this room, eager women were waiting for similar service that Natasha and Alicia had just received.

''What on Earth I've gotten myself into?''

* * *

**(Ichika's apartment)**

Ichika's workday had ended. It had been quite long but, as he'd expected, Ichika was not that exhausted. Only the kenjutsu training with the kenjutsu instructor Musashi.

The law regulated the amount of work a minor like Ichika could work during a workday but at this point, he was basically an illegal worker. So, him staying here for some overtime made no difference when disobeying the rule of law. He'd realized that just now. First of all, an underage boy would never get a permit to work as a masseur. Fumi Aoi risked a lot by having him as an employee. Ichika had managed to have a look at the profit margins of the massage parlor, and they certainly were much larger ever since he came here. But if the word got out and more people knew about him being here, the authorities might hear about Ichika working in this parlor. It would certainly make the news if it reached the public. Chifuyu would know about it, too. But that wasn't what made him afraid, though. Whatever the risks were, Ichika had to take them in order to get close with Alicia and to earn some money while at it. He had taken risks ever since the day he stepped inside that Yakuza building and slaughtered all the people there.

Ichika had just arrived home from his workplace. Paranoia had crept into his head while Ichika was on his way home.

It had been a few weeks since the kidnapping incident.

The goals of his kidnapping were, at least seemingly, very simple; to kidnap Ichika in order to force Chifuyu to abandon her finals.

But since Ichika was now in close contact with his possible nemesis, moving away from his current apartment seemed like a good choice. Then again, the same kidnappers might just search for him and find about the new apartment, which would render the whole ordeal useless.

After removing his extra clothing and putting his training equipment, including weapons, away, Ichika just stared at the window where the extra enemy came in.

He then recalled the events that eventually led to his failure and to his kidnapping. Because the fighters had been women, Ichika assumed that the women must've been able to operate an IS. Otherwise, using people for other reason than just to operate an IS, a male fighter was more preferable, after all. Despite the overwhelming power of Infinite Stratos, the men still were superior fighters when it came to martial arts and the use of conventional weaponry, and, of course, the physical prowess of men, which made all aforementioned things possible to do for men.

While fighting them, he did not spend much time looking at their faces, which were covered anyway, but now Ichika wanted to slightly know who was behind his kidnapping, to know those two people who did it.

The first woman, who appeared when Ichika opened the door for her, had blue hair. He could know that by looking at her eyebrows that were quite thin but still visible despite the ski mask she had on her face. Her eyes were blue as well, almost similar to her hair color. But one eye was particularly interesting. Her left eye was covered by an eyepatch. It baffled Ichika a bit. No soldier was allowed to continue engaging in military activities or something involving combat if they had a serious injury like a loss of an eye. But it seemed whatever organization employed her, the woman was allowed to fight despite her serious injury.

Or was it an injury, after all?

Ichika didn't think that there were other options for using an eyepatch than just to hide an injury. He had also heard that one could use it to enhance their night vision. But in modern times that was virtually useless. Especially, if this woman put herself in danger many times, she might be vulnerable when she didn't see with the other eye.

Ichika then thought about the other woman who came from the window that he was just looking at intensely.

She had auburn hair, which was also evident by looking at her eyebrows. She also wore a ski mask.

And the eyes that the woman had… were interesting.

They were crimson red.

And when Ichika looked at them before he fell unconscious, Ichika could see her eyes smiling with delight once he failed to protect himself from harm.

Ichika clenched his fists in hatred as he recalled the sight of those eyes. His nails dug deep in his palm, blood dripped from his hand but Ichika did not care a bit.

The crimson eyes of that woman may have been fearsome, but so was the reflection of Ichika's eyes as his eyes were flaming with hatred as he watched the window right in front of him. The dusk falling as he watched the window, the red and purple tint of his eyes piercing through the glass.

''My vengeance will come soon enough. Alicia will reveal the location of those women. Especially, that auburn-haired woman...''

Ichika still had no idea which one of the women was a better fighter. Perhaps, they came together to fight him because they knew that they were no match for him alone. But how did they even know that he was a talented fighter? They probably reasoned that a little brother of Brunhilde would receive at least some training from her. But a boy as young as Ichika usually did not. It would be preferable to train one's muscles and increase body mass once the puberty was over. But his puberty had just started and Ichika still had an uncomfortable adjustment period because of the conclusion of his adolescent years.

Ichika proceeded to make some food for the evening. Then he would go to the shower to wash off all the physical filth, and the mental filth as well. The shower at the parlor did not wash away everything.

* * *

**(Shower)**

His katana was always nearby. Right now, in front of the shower cubicle, his sword was just laying there. He never knew when the next attack commenced. Better to be prepared when taking a shower as well.

Ichika then exited the cubicle, finally relaxed. He tried to dry up his hair with the towel as best he could, but it would always remain wet.

Ichika briefly looked at the mirror to see how his hair looked.

The sight on the mirror slightly spooked him.

His eyes again had that color. When he was angry, it happened. When he was fueled by lust for blood, it even glowed brighter.

''The hell is this? Why are my eyes like that all of a sudden? Nothin particular has happened to me recently...''

Ichika had known ever since that birthday incident that something was not quite right with him. He dared not to ask his sister about it. She already worried too much about him.

Ichika would keep wondering about it until he approached his slumber and fell asleep.

* * *

**(Meanwhile, in an unknown location)**

The girl kept wandering around her room. She was much shorter than Ichika. Her age was that of Ichika's or a year younger. She had a black raven hair, very similar to Chifuyu's. Her eyes were brown like most of the population of Japan had.

The time of day was sometimes very difficult to know. She had to deduce it by looking at the activities of other people around her.

But doing that to determine the time of day wasn't very easy for her, because she couldn't easily see people doing activities around her.

The room, that surrounded her, looked gorgeous. At least, it was better than Ichika's apartment. But she did not feel home here.

It was much like a prison with golden bars.

There were some luxurious like a TV but she was denied access to a computer. Most likely to prevent her to attempt any hacking. Hell, there was a dummy to use for training, or more likely, to alleviate any stress so she wouldn't go crazy. It was already badly battered. She probably wouldn't receive a second one any soon.

''You're still walking frantically around your room, M? Aren't you?'' A woman suddenly came close to a door, which the girl was unable to open from the inside. And she surely had attempted to do that many times.

The girl, now called M, did not respond to the woman's taunt.

''Must I remind you, M, that your actions led to this… confinement.'' The woman avoided the word 'imprisonment'.

M only glared at the woman.

''You betrayed your family when your help was most needed.''

''She… she was my family as well!'' M finally responded angrily.

The woman only did a cruel smile, which the girl was unable to see.

''That girl was not your family. She was that wretched woman's daughter. No child of hers will ever be part of your family.''

''Genetically, she is.'' The girl tried to act smart.

''Like it matters to us! It's not just the genetics that matters! Also, the ideals that the one has and the loyalty to one's family.'' The woman laughed at the girl's statement.

''You surely know about… your half-sister…?'' She continued with the same evil smirk.

''Not much. She wanted to escape my mother… as I did.'' The girl's voice was slightly sorrowful.

''That traitorous woman took her son! The only male heir of your family!'' The woman spat.

The girl kept glaring at the door where the woman's voice came from.

''As you know, you will never be a nuisance to us once again.'' The woman spoke in a joyful voice to mock the girl.

''You should go to sleep, then. Walking around the room is foolish. It's already midnight. I'm sure you wanted to know the exact time, didn't you?'' The woman stopped the conversation and then quickly walked away from the door.

''AAAHHH!''

The girl ran towards the door screaming.

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

*THUMP*

She furiously kicked the door.

Her boot almost got broken. The pain reached her toes, but she didn't care.

''That bitch… I want her dead. I want all of them dead!'' Tears dropped on her cheeks.

She then returned to her bed and sobbed there for a long time.

**A/N: The massage scenes that were included in this chapter were definitely the last ones. For future chapters, they will not have any narrative purpose to them, so there won't be any.**


End file.
